Capacity
by Encendrel
Summary: What is 'Potential? Why do people treasure it so much? Even a little more can be the deciding factor of an entire lifestyle. And, besides that... Is there such a thing as "too much potential?"
1. Chapter 1

**Oh my oh my, rifling through my story and cringing like five times.**

**I guess authors can't appreciate their own work, or something? Meh. I really did enjoy chapter 5 though, both reading and writing it.**

**Ahaha, I'm not nearly as good as the other writers here, but I hope you'll enjoy it.**

**I don't own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.**

* * *

Prologue

Tatsuya was considered a prodigy, even within the Yotsuba Family.

With a high aptitude for magic and an ability to interfere directly with Information Bodies, he was already seen as a candidate for the next head, even at a juvenile age of 8.

However, he was also different from the other members of the Yotsuba for various reasons.

He had completed the Guardian training at six (on recommendation of his mother, who had been training him in magic), making him more physically fit than most adult males.

Tatsuya was a genius in almost every sense.

* * *

Shiba Miya watched carefully as Tatsuya operated the CAD.

She had opted out of an "elite school" for Tatsuya, like the one Miyuki attended. Elite schools that taught kids about magic before highschool wouldn't help her son.

No, he was already too powerful.

She watched him perfectly activate a sequence to shoot a psion bullet. As expected, it hit dead center.

However, the target also disintegrated into nothing.

Even though she kept most of his power sealed, with her Mental Magic, it still managed to get out of control and wreak havoc.

"Tatsuya, concentrate on only one thing. For now, it isn't a good idea just let your power leak." She sighed, but was impressed nonetheless. Though it was the parent's job to keep the child out of trouble and teach that child how to be strong, there was nothing she could teach him.

His power was something that no one could help him with. The Decomposition and Regrowth magic he utilzed could not be seen by anyone else, and thus, no one could help him improve it.

"Yes, Mother." This was spoken in monotone, but contained a few shades of respect.

However, as a mother and not as a member of the Yotsuba Clan, she wanted to help him get better, even if she couldn't do anything.

"Miya-sama, tea is ready." She looked to the door of the room and allowed Sakurai Honami in.

"Thank you, Sakurai-san."

Tatsuya activated and shot a Psion bullet multiple times, and managed to hit the targets perfectly after some adjustments.

She stood.

"Tatsuya, I will go to pick up Miyuki. Sakurai will oversee your training."

"Yes, mother."

* * *

"Okay, Tatsuya-kun, that's enough."

30 minutes after Miya left, Shiba Tatsuya collapsed with a thud.

He was so damn tired.

He wasn't prone to mental exhaustion, but so long as he remained a human, there were limits his brain would not take.

Though he could reverse changes to his body, up to 24 hours in the past, there were only so many times he could 'imitate sleep' before reflexive brain caught on to what he was doing.

After that, it would shut down, no matter what. REM (which he simulated) was the most vital part of sleep, but the mentality of "not sleeping" stayed.

Also, practicing with Mother was extremely tiring, as well.

Miya, though not trying to abuse her Mental Structure magic, would (apparently) have an unseen effect on people who interacted with her.

Twisted and buried, he could sense them, but he couldn't feel them very well.

He blacked out from exhaustion.

* * *

Honami watched worriedly as Tatsuya fell into a daze.

She should have been used to it by now- Tatsuya overworking himself and collapsing- but she couldn't act carefree whenever it did happen.

The boy, the son of the one she was supposed to protect, had an enormous amount of power and potential. Between his innate Regrowth and Decomposition, he would already be at the level of a regular adult magician. Adding his other magic abilities- the strategic magic he had devised himself-, he was basically a walking fortress.

However, a problem stood.

Shiba Tatsuya could not control his power.

To some extent, one could say he had mastery over it, but that was when he was only concentrating on his innate magic.

When he used regular magic, he would lose control over his Regrowth and Decomposition. Miya's seal was powerful, but Tatsuya was just 'that' much stronger than it.

Tatsuya was a kind of Born-Specialized magician who retained talents for other fields.

Something like, if he was an arrogant person, "I am good at everything, but I'm even better at this."

He wasn't arrogant, but the statement was very true.

Tatsuya wobbled on his feet, and Honami payed keen attention.

The boy was fighting a valiant battle. His focus was snapping in and out, even though he reflexes were clearly telling him to sleep.

Tatsuya started to walk... and promptly fell face flat on the ground.

Honami sighed and scooped up the child.

She wondered if her mistress would be proud of him or upset at him...

* * *

Miya walked in with Miyuki in tow.

Miyuki also had Mental Magic, so she wasn't as affected by Miya's structural interference.

"Okaa-sama, where did Tatsuya go?" Tatsuya's name was spoken with a certain amount of friendliness, but also with an amount of formality.

Miya looked around to find her Guardian. Honami smiled in greeting.

"Hello, Miya-sama." Her genial smile turned to a frown. "Tatsuya collapsed. Again."

Miya sighed.

"I guess it can't be helped." Honami nodded in agreement. However, I couldn't understand those reasons.

"But okaa-san, why not? Is there something wrong?"

Mother looked at me a little regretfully, and spoke.

"If no one treats him like a normal 'person', he won't act like a normal person."

I tilted my head. What, exactly, did that mean?

"Miyuki, have you ever seen Tatsuya sleep?"

"Well, I think so."

"Other than when he collapses."

"...no." Loathe as I was to admit it, I barely ever saw Tatsuya do anything other kids did. Given, she didn't go to school with him; not even the same type of school as him, so she wouldn't be able to tell the whole story from her viewpoint.

Miya gave Miyuki a stern look, not of a motherly kind, but the one that a teacher had when they wanted to get a message across. "As living beings, we tend to fear things more powerful than us."

"..." Miyuki was catching on, but she couldn't believe that Tatsuya was more powerful than her mother.

"When we fear things, we no longer want to treat them as equal, despite who they may be."

Miyuki pondered it.

"...Okaa-sama?"

"Yes?"

"Do you fear Tatsuya?"

"Hn," Her look had become motherly, in it's own sense, in that it was an extreme gesture for one like Miya. "I fear that one day, he'll stop trying to restrain himself."

"...I don't get it."

"You will, Miyuki, in time."

* * *

Tatsuya walked to the gates of his school. Inside the gates was a courtyard, with blooming flowers and green trees. The main building was a plain elementary school, though.

When he woke up, he was extremely disoriented, as he had lost 8 hours (and his mental clock was used to a 24 hour day, not a 16 hour day).

He was feeling refreshed so he leaned his head back and yawned.

He heard a giggle.

"Tatsuya-kun, if you do that, you look twice your age!"

Oh. It was his classmate. He jokingly shot back.

"Well, Cradle Robber-chan, I bet that you would like that, right?"

He could practically feel the pout.

"Oh, c'mon, Tatsuya-kun! I'm only two years older!"

He turned to face the person.

"Mayumi-chan, two years is a big deal for someone who's eight."

Saegusa Mayumi was a girl, ten years of age, with a graceful posture and serene gaze. She had black hair, and the uniform of a standard elementary school.

She was also his best friend.

"'Love knows no boundaries', right?" She laughed, a clear laugh that sounded of a bell.

"Hn. I don't know."

"Besides, it's your fault for being two grades ahead!" She put her hands on her hips and frowned.

"Not my fault. Blame the education system."

Because of some 'glitch', he had ended up in a class two years higher than his level.

It was turned a blind eye to, so the only way to fix his class schedule would be to flunk everything for two years.

That wasn't happening anytime soon, though.

They walked into the school building.

* * *

Shiba Tatsuya is a genius; a prodigy of the highest calibre.

A master of magic, holding a power that would eventually reach all of Japan.

But, for now...

* * *

**2093 First High School: Day of the Entrance Ceremony**

Tatsuya was unsure of what to do.

He was being dragged in some random direction to be lectured. He noted that he was in a hallway, but he figured his 'captor' had no idea where they were going either.

"Mayumi-chan, I can walk." He protested.

"What if you run away, Tatsuya-kun?" Mayumi reasoned in a stern voice. She had stopped growing around her third year of middle school, though her limbs were actually really long for the size of the rest of her body, and her chest had also grown in proportion.

"I won't, I promise." She sighed, but let go.

"...Really, though. To go as far as trying to fake the examinations."

Tatsuya had been tested upon entering. His age was questioned, but no one decided to veto his enrollment.

He had aced the written exams, he knew that those didn't matter in the long run.

However, due to his personal... issues, he had attempted to get into Course 2.

_Flashback (2 days ago)_

_Tatsuya placed his hand on the cube shaped CAD. It was one solely for measuring control and power. A meter on the side measured the power in numbers. Of course, the students mostly had no idea what those numbers meant, so it was just for the examiners._

_"Begin."_

_Tatsuya focused on a random spot on the wall and activated the CAD. The numbers on the measurement screen didn't move at all._

_Perfect._

_"Now, repeat for precise measurement._

_Tatsuya repeated his actions, but suddenly his hand fell onto the table under him._

_He looked down._

_Fuck._

_Flashback end._

The readings on the meter had continued to rise up until the entire machine simply flashed red. The examiners told him to do it again.

And again.

And again.

After trying to fail the test multiple times, he had no choice but to actually take the test.

"Why do you want to get into Course Two so badly, anyways?" Mayumi walked into a room filled with uniforms.

It was split down the middle. One side was uniforms with an eight-petaled flower, and one side was uniforms without.

So she did know where she was going.

Tatsuya responded. "Well, because Course One is more magic intensive, right?"

"...Yes?" Mayumi didn't know where Tatsuya was going with this. She rummaged through the uniforms, as his tests had gone far beyond the time that they were issued.

"Remember the last time I used magic consecutively for more than an hour?"

Mayumi paused.

Tatsuya and his family had gone to Okinawa in 2092 as a vacation. When Mayumi told her father about this, he had suddenly acquired a determined look and a sentence that she was definitely going to Okinawa.

The rivalry between the Yotsuba head and the Saegusa head was as large as the nation they were in.

Even if it was the head's sister, it counted for something.

But that's a story for another day.

"Ah, but it's too late." He said jokingly. "I'm afraid I may have to destroy the school."

No, don't do that Tatsuya.

"Oh, speaking that time, I hear they're calling you the _Ground Zero_ in Japan."

"Really?" Tatsuya had a calm expression. A simple moniker didn't really mean much.

However, it did mean a lot that his name was released to the public.

In symbol, it was because...

Well, only a few knew this, but he had lost control.

At that point, the very ground on which he walked began to disappear into nothing.

The area right below a nuclear bomb's detonation is "Ground Zero".

Because Tatsuya was capable of two "Strategic Class Magic" from entirely different categories, he had been forced into revealing himself to the public.

Or rather, Special Lieutenant Ooguro Ryuuya's name was released to the public.

However, since "Ooguro Ryuuya" would completely disappear at times, it was impossible for him to be regularly watched.

"Yes, it would seem that the different nations will all have a different name for you soon. Ah, maybe some kid will call you the 'God of Destruction' like some videogame's final boss." Mayumi thrust a uniform at him. "Anyways, it's bad if my fiance is a Weed, right?"

Tatsuya frowned. "...Why are we back on this topic? It's bad if my fiancee is a cradle robber, right?"

"...Tatsuya-kun, I thought you gave up on that. Besides, in terms of who's better in magic, you should be the Freshman Representative, not me."

"I don't believe that the school wants someone who tries to cheat the examinations as the 'model freshman'. Hey, aside from that... Don't you have an ceremony rehearsal to go to?"

"Hm. Maybe if you go."

"Saegusa-san," He started in a formal manner, "You're already almost out of time after dragging me to the middle of nowhere. Even if you suddenly drop out of the ceremony, I definitely won't be selected as replacement."

"Besides, if you give up now, it'll be a blemish on your eventual evaluations. Surely you understand that?"

"...Yes."

"Besides, I'm looking forward to my beautiful future wife's performance." He smiled.

"A-ah," Mayumi stuttered, but quickly composed herself. "Maybe if you give your princess a kiss?" She inquired coyly.

Tatsuya laughed, softly, as if he had never laughed before. "You're already out of time, Miss Cradle Robber."

Mayumi appeared as if debating smacking the young man or just running off.

After a few seconds of apparent inner conflict, she spoke.

"Yeah, I'll be leaving.

...And, please watch me."

Tatsuya smiled.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.'

* * *

**PROLOGUE FINISHED.**

**CHAPTER ONE START.**

* * *

**2095 First High School: Day of the Entrance Ceremony**

"Miyuki, are you ready to go to school?" Tatsuya called from the entrance of their house in Tokyo.

"Yes, nii-san!" He heard up the stairs.

He felt some pride that his sister had become the Freshman Representative.

Her scores weren't as good as his, but who could blame her, really?

Compared to what most of the family was already treating as the "next Yotsuba Head", she was a level down.

His sister walked down the stairs in her new uniform. The eight-petaled emblem on her sleeve matched his emblem on his left breast.

"Let's go."

Well, he could still feel his "worry".

* * *

The main building, the practice building, and an experiment building made up three of the school buildings.

An auditorium that was a gymnasium had an internal layout that could be altered via transformation machinery. A library with three levels above ground and two levels below. Two small gymnasiums. A preparation building equipped with a changing room, a shower room, an equipment-storage room, and club rooms. The canteen, the cafeteria, and the procurement department are in another building. And above all that, the construction of various large and small annexes make the design of First High School appear more like the campus of a suburban university than a typical high school.

Tatsuya looked left and right as he walked along a path paved with a layer of bricks, searching for a place to stand and do nothing until it was time to enter the auditorium.

He had his ID card, but he was fairly sure it wouldn't work this year. He held his mobile data terminal in his hand.

Security was a large thing, so all ID cards were rendered useless after a year.

In order to avoid a scene of chaos, the open cafe that was meant to serve visitors was also closed today.

After five minutes of walking around aimlessly, beyond a row of trees, which were positioned in such a way that they couldn't escape his field of vision, he spotted a bench in the courtyard.

_It's a good thing that it's not raining_, a whimsical thought flew through his mind as he sat down and looked up at the sky.

This courtyard seems to be a shortcut from the preparation building to the auditorium.

They were probably roped in by the management of the entrance ceremony to help out. That is, the current students (mostly underclassmen to Tatsuya) who were passing by the young man a small distance away. All of them had the same eight-petaled flower emblem on the left side of their chests.

-Hey, that's the Vice president, isn't it?

-What's he doing here? Shouldn't he be trying to get into Course 2?

-Doesn't he normally get dragged around by the Student Council President?

He leaned back.

Ah, it was all true, unfortunately.

He had been roped into being the Vice President through the powers of group majority, which meant a lifetime of being harassed by Mayumi.

Also, last year and the year before last year, he had tried to rig the results to get into Course 2.

It had become a somewhat famous running gag among the upperclassmen.

While Course 1 students were naturally at a higher level, there were only a few differences.

To start with, was the gap in the practical ability of Course 2 students. Most were called "Weeds" for their lack of real potential. It was actually publicly forbidden to use such a term, but it would happen anyways.

The other, the reason why Tatsuya wanted to get into Course 2 was the lack of instructors.

Without instructors, it wouldn't matter whether or not you practiced. No one would check up on you.

They could participate in classes and use facilities, but there was no real obligation to do so except actually wanting to learn.

For Tatsuya, who consistently destroyed equipment by manner of losing control of "Decomposition", (though, he fix equipment too) Course 2 was an obvious choice.

This year, the examiners didn't even test him, and threw him into Course 1.

He turned his attention to his data terminal and began to read.

* * *

After a long little while, Tatsuya glanced up at the clock.

There were only another 30 minutes until the ceremony.

"Hey, Tatsuya-kun? What are you doing here?"

His blood ran cold at the feminine voice.

"...Ah, I got lost?"

He decided to turn his head.

The first thing he saw was the skirt of the girl's uniform.

Then, a wide bracelet wrapped around the left arm of whoever the person was.

Thinner and more metallic than a regular bracelet, it was probably a new CAD model.

CAD referred to a Casting Assistant Device.

In Japan, it was sometimes called a Magic Operator.

It was a device that replaced all traditional methods of evoking magic, save "Superpowers", something all modern magicians carried around.

"Superpowers" were magics invoked solely by will, but most magicians capable of Superpowers became unable to use any magic besides that of which they specialized in.

In a sense, Tatsuya's Decomposition and Regrowth were Superpowers, but the calculation required probably disqualified them.

Tatsuya possessed three on his person at any given time, but only two had practical use.

He placed a hand over his right eye. His sight tinted green.

Mayumi spoke. "Oh, so you did. When everything was being set up, you were lost?"

Tatsuya stood. He was about twenty centimeters taller than Mayumi, who was 155 centimeters tall. He had a posture that seemed "noble", but his eyes were sharp and in his right eye, a green crosshair formed.

"To be fair, I was here all the other days."

Mayumi looked at his face. "Ah, I really wish you didn't keep that CAD in your eye..."

Tatsuya walked up to Mayumi, each step holding the lethal elegance of an assassin. To be expected of the next Yotsuba head.

"Well, I need it to activate my 'Magic', so..." He trailed off, as people were still in the courtyard.

Mayumi frowned. "Since when do we need 'Strategic Class' magic at school?" She whispered the words.

She smiled soon after, though.

Tatsuya felt chills go down his spine.

"You never know, right?"

"...Just go to the student council room."

* * *

Upon entering Tatsuya saw Nakajou Azusa, the Student Council secretary, wave at him.

"Oh, hello, Tatsuya-senpai!"

"Hello, Nakajou-san." He returned the wave.

He didn't see anyone else, but before he could inquire, Azusa suddenly pressed on.

"Tatsuya-kun, is that CAD the 'Silver Horn'?"

"...Yeah, it is."

Azusa was something of a device geek, so when Tatsuya appeared to have rare and hard to obtain machinery, it was hard to lower her hype.

Taurus Silver was the genius programmer who was the first in the world to make the Loop Cast System a reality.

Loop Cast System is the Activation Sequence that skips the step of restarting each Activation Sequence. If the Magic Sequence is the same, then the CAD no longer has to restart the Activation Sequence each time. This is done by adding a copying power to the Magic Calculation Area's execution mode, adding a copy of the Activation Sequence's last parts to the Activation Sequence itself, so Magicians can endlessly invoke magics within their ability. Although the theory existed in the past, but to calculate the Invocation Sequence and copy the Activation Sequence separately at the same time.

Naturally, it has the best adjustments for the Loop Cast System, is able to invoke magic stably using the least amount of Magic Power, is critically acclaimed, and is especially popular among the law enforcement population.

"Although it's sold on the market, but that requires a special procedure and fee! And judging from the way the barrel is longer than the traditional model, yours must be a limited edition model?! Where did you get that?" Trying to slip in an extra question through her hype, it was still seen through.

"It's a secret."

Azusa pouted, which made her already childish face look even more childish.

"By the way, Nakajou-san, where are Ichihara-san and Mayumi?"

Deciding not to mention Tatsuya's lack of formality addressing the President, she spoke. "Oh, Mayumi went to see the students and Ich- Oh, hello, President!"

"Hello, A-chan, Tatsuya-kun."

Azusa sulked a little, and muttered: "Are you going to call me that in front of the underclassmen?"

Mayumi smiled. "Relax, A-chan, you're among friends here!" This only seemed to make the secretary worry even more.

"Anyways, Tatsuya-kun, your sister's speech starts soon. We should probably go to see it."

"Oh, really? Time is really going slowly today." Even though he had walked to the council room and talked to Azusa, Miyuki's speech hadn't even started yet.

"Hey, because it's Tatsuya-kun's sister, she's bound to be cute, right?"

Mayumi had adopted a teasing smile, which only worried Tatsuya.

He could probably answer whatever he wanted, and it would be misunderstood.

God forbid he would be called a 'bro-con' or something of that type.

So, he settled for, "Oh, she's cute, but not as cute as you."

Mayumi's face turned a light shade of pink, but still spoke smoothly. "Is that so?"

Azusa spoke out. "Honestly, you two... Your dynamic is so strange. There's only 3 minutes left."

Mayumi giggled. "Ohoho... Come, Tatsuya! We have a speech to hear!" The petite lady grabbed Tatsuya's shoulder and dragged him off in what would have been a surprising show of strength(?)."

The Student Council Accountant, Ichihara Suzune walked in.

"Did I see the President drag Tatsuya-senpai down the hallway?"

Azusa looked up at her.

"Yes, but is it anything new?"

* * *

**So, that's the end of the first chapter.**

**Really, it should have been way longer, but I opted out because 1) I am an impatient dick and 2) I want to work on other things.**

**I ship Mayumi and Tatsuya so much I don't even know why**

**Leave a review, I need to improve, so feel free to criticize.**

**-Edit: Sweeped out on September 12, 2014.**

**-Edit 2: Made plans for redoing some chapters. Maybe in six months? 11/15/2014**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thinking back on it, what was I thinking at all when I wrote the first chapter?**

**_cmon tatsuya you're 14 you can't be engaged_**

**Pfft.**

**Anyways, barring that, I'm just gonna run with it.**

**I don't own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.**

* * *

"Ah, are these seats taken?" Tatsuya spoke, Mayumi in tow. Even though she was initially the one pulling him along, he had still managed to end up in the lead (?).

They sat in the back seats, because their lateness was not to be discovered.

The Course 1 students would always fuss over those things, as a means to feel important.

The division wasn't clear, as ID cards hadn't been issued, but it was obvious that those without the Course 1 signs were in the back.

The ones who had supposed "potential" would sit in the front, and those without would sit in the back.

Despite not being a rule, it was something that happened anyways.

Those who were concsious of the division were likely to follow it.

And so they were going directly against the flow.

So obviously, the person was surprised.

"N-no, feel free to sit here." The person was a girl, and three other girls sat consecutively. It seemed that they were friends, from the way they acted, but it was rare for four friends to all make it into the same school and all be in course two.

There were maybe 2 minutes left until Miyuki's speech.

Though, time really seemed to be going slowly today, so he wasn't sure how long that was really going to last.

"Er..." The girl he sat next to asked. For some reason, as Tatsuya turned to answer, Mayumi turned as well.

Maybe some sort of habit?

Mayumi had an strange expression on her face, so Tatsuya became increasingly worried.

Perhaps he was bumping elbows or knees? No, it didn't seem so.

He was definitely sitting with good posture.

The person wasn't anyone he'd seen before, and he didn't think he'd done anything bad, so-

"I'm Shibata Mizuki. Nice to meet you."

Suddenly, the girl introduced herself. Why such a spontaneous action was done, Tatsuya had no clue, unless it was the fact that they were Weeds and he was a Bloom.

But that would be a repetitive theme.

The tone was very timid, so it might have been so, however. It sounded like she had forced herself to do it.

"My name is Saegusa Mayumi. Nice to meet you too."

Before he could finish his evaluation, Mayumi had suddenly replied.

Even though the question was obviously addressed to him.

The eyes behind the lenses seemed concerned about something.

In fact, lenses were very uncommon nowadays.

The only person he knew who wore lenses was himself, and that was actually just a CAD.

Lenses were only really used by those with serious issues, perhaps with eyesight, or over-sensitivity to spirit-particle emission.

The latter was common, but for one to need lenses, it would probably be something serious, like sensitivity to Pushions as well as Psions.

Psions were simply particle emissions brought about by intention, but if it were by pushions, which were emotion based, it might really need a coating.

Tatsuya would normally worry about this, but after the incident 3 years ago, he no longer limited his Psions.

'That' which used to hang around his Eidos as a counter was no longer warding him.

The girl spoke again. "A-ah, I was talking to..." Even though she used a lot of courage, she didn't manage to get her full thought out.

He filled it in anyways.

"My name is Shiba Tatsuya. Nice to meet you." He turned to Mayumi with an obscure look that might be read as "_See? Why'd you do that?_".

"I'm Chiba Erica. Nice to meet you, Shiba-san, Saegusa-san. This is Shibata Mizuki."

She looked as if she were going to say something, but stopped.

"Hey, aren't you the President and Vice President?"

Mayumi spoke. "Yes, but I wasn't aware that students cared for this information before the full orientation."

"Oh, is that so..." Erika seemed lost in thought.

"Oh, by the way, it seems that the speech is starting."

* * *

Seemingly as predicted, Miyuki's orientation address was fantastic.

It was hard to think that it wouldn't be so, as she had been training for such things her whole life.

It seemed she was a little overexcited, though, and used some pretty concerning phrases like, "In my opinion", or "For all the students equally", but luckily she managed to make them sound less dangerous than they actually were.

The hospitable traits she displayed gave a sense of familiarity, which, coupled with her inner grace and outer beauty, seemed to put everyone, even the upperclassmen, into a spell.

"Hmm... She's really amazing at that." Mayumi noted.

"So it seems." Tatsuya muttered back.

Tatsuya wanted to commend her for her performance, but it seemed that he might be dragged there by Mayumi anyways, so he refrained.

Besides, the ID cards were being issued for new students.

Right now, in the middle of the large crowd-

"Shiba-senpai, Saegusa-senpai, what class are you in?" Erica inquired. It seemed like a strange question to Tatsuya, as it was obviously below class E.

"Ah, Class 3A, though it's for Year 3 students." He realized that it was just a way for girl to start a conversation and drag the others in, but he that it wouldn't be a problem.

Mayumi spoke. "I'm in Class 3A, too." Mayumi had abandoned the formal 'My class is' kind of speech, opting for a more familiar style.

Erica looked at them curiously. "When I think about it, you two look like you do everything together."

Tatsuya responded to the implied question. "That's because we're President and Vice President, so that should be obvious." He half expected Mayumi to say something about 'destined love', but since there were underclassmen, maybe she had her own reputation to hold up?

"Ah, no, we're engaged, so it should be obvious." She smiled, but it had a rather oppressive air.

In truth, she just liked scaring the new students.

"Really? Isn't it early for that?"

Well of course it was, but-

"If it's destined, you just have to accept it." Mayumi stated.

Tatsuya cursed his inner monologue, but made no actions for or against.

"...Anyways, I'm in Class 1E." She may have felt a little awkward, but-

"Oh! I'm in Class 1E as well." The timid girl called out. She was jumping up and down happily.

It may have been a natural reaction for freshmen. Who knows?

"I'm in Class 1F."

"I'm in Class 1G."

It sounded disappointed, but in no way unhappy.

Perhaps Magic High School was really a huge thing for them?

Either way, the school had eight classes for each year, each with 25 students.

Classes A through D were for Blooms, with supposed 'potential', where classes E through H were for the dismal Weeds without a chance in the school.

"Hey, since you're the Student President and Vice President, can you show us around the school?" Chiba Erica smiled.

In reality, it was just really shameless.

Just saying something because she could, it was rather strange.

"No, we have to meet Tatsuya-kun's little sister." Mayumi smiled apologetically.

Mizuki spoke up.

"Hey... Is your sister the Freshman Representative?"

Tatsuya nodded his head.

"Yes, she is. Though, Shiba is a rather common name, so how could you tell?"

"Ah, you just looked similar." Mizuki stated. "Though, you really look almost the same age."

Tatsuya decided to say: "Well, she's 15 and I'm 16." It was probably easiest.

Erica frowned. "But, the third years are almost all around 18..."

Tatsuya smiled lightly. "Of course. That's why Mayumi-chan is a cradle robber."

The two underclassmen just stared at him in shock. Erica's lips twitched upwards, however.

Mayumi seemed to have a dark aura as she started. "Oh, Tatsuya. You shouldn't say such immature things. And besides, we have to meet your sister." She laid a hand on Tatsuya's right shoulder, and dragged him off.

Erica stared blankly. "Huh, what an odd dynamic they have..." Though she didn't know it, her thoughts mirrored the Secretary's a while ago.

* * *

"Oh, onii-san, Mayumi-chan, how are you?" Mayumi asked, politely, trying to slip out of the crowd surrounding her.

She broke out of the crowd, with a genial smile on her face. She was familiar with her brother's fiancee, so it was another friendly face to her.

_Maybe she learned that from Sakurai-san_, Tatsuya mused.

"I'm good, Miyuki-chan. How are you?" Mayumi asked. _(Though it really should be obvious because Tatsuya wouldn't refer to a younger sister with -chan)_

"I'm good, thank you." Tatsuya took a quick look at his sister's face.

Her face was smiling, but her expression didn't give off a happy feeling.

Though, for those who just wanted to give compliments, they wouldn't notice.

It was possible that those people were the reason for her mood.

"Anyways, Miyuki-chan," Mayumi started. "As President, I need to talk to you about the Student Council Schedule. By tradition, the Freshman Representative always joins the Student Council."

They were going to continue talking, but suddenly, Miyuki turned around.

It was late to notice, as, the crowd seemed to reform around the trio.

If the Freshman Representative was with members of the Student Council, their presence wouldn't matter, right?

A resigned look made it's way onto Miyuki's face for, perhaps, a tenth of a second, before she returned to accepting their compliments.

"Oh my, Tatsuya-kun. I fear my little sister-to-be may end up depressed by the end of the day." Mayumi said lightly. It was tinged with concern, but if the person wasn't Shiba Tatsuya, they would never pick it up.

"Ah, don't joke about such things. Anyways, I'm sure the crowd will break up soon."

"Why do you think that?"

"Ah! Saegusa-senpai! Shiba-senpai! It's nice to meet you again!" Erika and Mizuki walked up to them.

Tatsuya smiled slightly at Mayumi, who pouted.

"How do you do that? In fact, why don't you just become the President, if you can do something like that?"

_Well, I thought we talked about this before._ Tatsuya thought, but before he could verbalize, Miyuki materialized behind him.

"Onii-san, they are..."

Tatsuya shrugged.

"I don't really know."

Mayumi started.

"This is Shibata Mizuki. This is Chiba Erica."

Miyuki looked relieved which prompted Tatsuya to look at the crowd. It had thinned considerably, but a few people lingered.

Erica spoke. "Ah, we met Saegusa-senpai and Shiba-senpai in the seats. We saw them here, so we decided to go here."

In other words: Using the excuse of meeting people in the bleachers, we wanted to introduce ourselves to the Freshman Representative.

Miyuki caught on, but introduced herself.

"Good day, Shibata-san, Chiba-san. I am Shiba Miyuki."

"I am a freshman, as well, so I look forward to being in your care."

She smiled in what would be an adorable way.

Tatsuya had no such thoughts, and no such fetishes either.

"I am Shibata Mizuki. I also look forward to being in your care."

"Chiba Erica." Erica's tone seemed very blunt. "But it's fine to just call me Erica. Can I call you Miyuki?"

It was surprisingly straightforward, but Miyuki agreed.

"Yes, that would be fine. It's hard to distinguish me from my brother based only on family name."

That wasn't exactly true.

Considering people just called him "Vice President", "Shiba-senpai", or "that-guy-who-is-being-harassed-by-the-Saegusa", it was easy to tell from a "Shiba-san" or "Shiba-chan".

Erica seemed to consider something. "I didn't expect you to be sociable, based on your appearance."

Miyuki smiled graciously. Tatsuya was happy that Miyuki was no longer feeling oppressed, but he felt his part in the conversation had been removed.

Mayumi walked up to her.

"Well then Miyuki-chan, it seems that your business with the Student Council can wait, right?"

Tatsuya frowned. "Ah, Mayumi, we sh-"

"No, it's really fine. It's better if Miyuki-chan adjusts to the school, right?"

"But President, what about the schedule on our side..."

"We didn't really make an appointment beforehand. If she already has another engagement, she should give that priority right?"

"Well then Miyuki-chan, I shall take my leave. Tatsuya-kun, you don't have a choice; follow me."

Tatsuya gave a bitter smile before walking off.

At least he wasn't dragged off this time.

"Hey, Miyuki, if they're engaged, isn't that quite a strange dynamic?"

Miyuki looked at them, very seriously.

"Tell me about it."

* * *

"Ah, since you made it sound very important, they ran off to eat cake." Tatsuya remarked blandly. "But realistically,we have nothing to do."

"W-well," Mayumi's defense was weak. "I figured we could talk to Rin-chan or A-chan."

They walked down the empty hallways, as most people were gone, to home or wherever.

"Ah, those nicknames are going to kill our subordinates, you know."

"And Cradle Robber-chan doesn't?"

"Hmm," Tatsuya remarked airily. "I think you're fine."

"No, that's not true. Besides, you were eight at the time!" She said calmly.

"The problem here is that you can't say, 'we were eight', Mayumi-chan."

"Well," They walked into the student council room, "You love me anyways, Tatsuya-kun."

Azusa and Suzune were in the room. "Hello, President, Tatsuya-senpai." The chorused, but not in the loud sense one might expect from a unison of voices.

"Hello A-chan, Rin-chan."

This time only Suzune spoke. "Really... you're the only one who calls me that. Tatsuya-senpai, can't you do something about her nicknaming habit?"

"Sorry, Ichihara-san. I have enough heat from 'Cradle Robber'." He shuddered as a gaze fell upon him.

Azusa sighed. "Really, what kind of romance is this? Aren't you supposed to be "happily in love" or something?"

"Azusa-chan," Suzune spoke, with an extremely serious gaze. "They obviously are. No matter how strange it might seem."

Mayumi walked to the chair at the front of the table. Suzune continued. "Really, the freshman representative is going to be so scared of you two."

As Tatsuya made his way to the chair, Mayumi spoke. "No, the freshman representative is Tatsuya-kun's sister. I don't think so."

Azusa looked like she wanted to say something, but as Tatsuya started to sit down, he slipped.

He grabbed the ledge of the table, but got concerned glances.

Tatsuya barely ever slipped.

Each step had the precision and elegance of a trained assassin.

"...I'm fine. Just sleepy." Tatsuya muttered. Based on previous experience, he would be entirely collapsing in around 28 hours.

Mayumi frowned. "Tatsuya," She said, with no formality at all. "When was the last time you slept?"

Azusa and Suzune just watched the exchange in fascination.

"Um, 9 days ago?" Tatsuya thought for a little before answering.

"Go to bed, Tatsuya."

"No, I'm fi-"

"No, you're going to bed. Or I'll drag you there and crawl in with you."

Azusa widened her eyes at the implication, but Tatsuya was unfazed.

"...That doesn't really mean anything, considering it's nothing new..."

"Oh, but I can always spread rumors, you know...?" She said this threateningly, but considering the scowl, it probably wasn't a joke. "Remember the last time I'd done that?"

Tatsuya did remember. He'd come to hate rumors after that. Something as small as picking up a cat had somehow escalated into... Him having some sort of cat summoning powers? And everyone thought it was super serious too. He was known as the 'cat lord' for at least three months of his life.

And the reason was right in front of him. Even though the others didn't know about that, they could understand.

_The president-_

_-is truly evil!_ They all thought in unison.

"Y-yes, Mayumi." Tatsuya rose up and left the room.

"Hey, President..." Azusa spoke after a while.

"Yes, A-chan?"

"Did you really mean that?" Azusa definitely thought it was just a threat, but she had to make sure.

"...A-chan, sometimes, you have to make sure that your words have substance." Mayumi suddenly lectured her _kouhai_.

* * *

When Miyuki went home, Tatsuya was already sleeping, though it seemed to be a fitful sleep.

She had had fun with her new friends at the cake shop, but was tired after all the events of the day.

_Well, this brings back memories._

Back when Tatsuya constantly worked, no matter what.

Back when they would find a boy collapsed on the ground every week or so.

Back when he had been so desperate to get better, even though that scared everyone, even their mother.

Back when his only real friend was the girl from the Saegusa Family.

Again, something that would be a story for another day.

* * *

Tatsuya stretched in an exaggerated fashion as he left his room.

Miyuki watched with amusement as he went down the stairs.

Tatsuya spoke. "Ah, old habits do die hard, huh? Good morning, Miyuki. It's a little early for you to be up, right?"

"I was reminded of something yesterday, so I'm in a good mood today. Would you like some juice?" Miyuki talked honestly, before offering a cup to Tatsuya.

Normally, they would just leave the whole process up to the HAR (Home Automation Robot), so Miyuki must have been in very good spirits.

"Ah, thanks." He sipped the apple juice, any finished it within three or four sips.

Handing the glass to his sister- while he would rather do it himself, she was apparently in a good mood-, he prepared to walk out.

"I'm leaving." He was wearing a black sweatshirt and sweatpants, and was about to go through the door.

"Ah, I was planning to go with you today..." Miyuki said. She held up a basket of pre-prepared sandwiches.

"Well, if you feel like it... But are you going to do in your uniform?" He looked pointedly at the uniform under the cooking apron.

"Ah, well I haven't told sensei about school enrollment yet... Besides, I can no longer train alongside you, onii-san."

"I guess so. Though, I think Master will expect it, since it's happened to me for the past two years..."

He exited the house. Miyuki followed.

...

Tatsuya placed his hand over his right eye.

His vision was tinted green, and displays appeared in the corner of his vision.

If someone was watching, they would be greeted by the ominous sight of a boy with a green cross hair moving rapidly in his eye.

Action Prediction Device.

It was a CAD loaded with only one kind of sequence, but also had a display at hand.

He was attempting to make it to the grounds in a single jump.

Miyuki had already left on rollerblades, knowing that Tatsuya would get there first.

The displays allowed him to judge the distance and amplification needed to get to a certain place.

That wasn't its true function, but it was a complex task that served as training.

The actual jump was incredibly easy.

However, with such an obscure target, it was easy to miss by even 50 meters.

He activated generic [Speed] and [Weight] Type magics with a generalized CAD shaped like a metal glove in order to reach the temple.

The level of power behind those magics was extremely great.

If something was on an extremely low or high level, human accuracy decreased accordingly.

Maybe someone would fret if they saw someone floating through the sky.

Or maybe they would just sigh and call the flying person an idiot?

With all the magicians around Tokyo, it was hard to tell.

* * *

As predicted, Tatsuya reached the temple before Miyuki.

Landing gracefully in front of the gate, a slight breeze had followed him for around five seconds.

Miyuki hadn't gotten there until five minutes later, at which Tatsuya was being swarmed by disciples, all challenging him at the same time.

If we were to use a single word to describe it, it would be "Temple".

However, the people who were gathered there did not resemble any "priests", "monks", nor even "novice monks" in the slightest.

If they were classified generally, the terms would be something like "Practitioners of Austerities" or "Soldier Priests".

As to what Tatsuya was doing at that time, he had not kept up his pace. No, that wasn't it, he had in fact met with a violent reception as he passed through the temple gate.

When one first starts going to this temple, one would start off sparring with a single person at a time, but right now there were about twenty of the middle-ranked or lower disciples coming at Tatsuya all at once — not round-robin — an unusual thing.

"Miyuki-kun! Long time no see."

A merry voice suddenly called out from Miyuki's blind spot. Miyuki, while standing at the front yard of the main temple building, had turned around to look worriedly at her elder brother who was buried in a mass of people.

"Sensei... please stop erasing your presence and sneaking up on us. We have been looking all over for you..."

Because of Yakumo's "tradition", it was naturally easier to do so.

"Telling me not to sneak about, Miyuki-kun, is impossible. I'm a shinobi, so sneaking about is what I do."

Wearing the black robe of a monk, with a clean shaven head, he did not seem at all out of place here but did not give any impression of age.

The only description that could really be used was 'aloof', and even though he was dressed as a monk, that was impossible to believe.

"In this day and age, there's no such occupation as ninja. I wish you'd correct that as soon as possible."

Even as Miyuki earnestly protested,

"Tut tut tut, don't misunderstand by labeling us ninjas. We are fully legitimate 'shinobi'. It's a tradition, not an occupation."

He replied while walking back and forth slowly. In all, it was rather petulant.

"We respect your legitimacy. So please stop it with all the mystery. Really, I'd like to keep my good mood.

This wannabe monk — well, actually, he does have the qualifications of a genuine monk — Kokonoe Yakumo, is a self ascribed "shinobi".

Or more liberally, a "ninjutsu user".

Just as stated before, he drew the line between physical capabilities and the "Ancient Magic" of ninjas.

Now that magic was synergistic to science, ancient things like "Shinobi Arts" or "Witch Techniques" were valued highly all of a sudden.

Naturally, as with other magic systems, the legend doesn't tell the whole truth.

The "transformations" in the ninjutsu of storytellers are just high speed movement and illusions.

Not just ninjutsu, but all traditional forms of magic rely on tricks like that, and things such as transformations, shape shifting, and alchemy are considered impossible in many fields of modern magic.

The Kokonoe Yakumo whom Miyuki calls sensei, and Tatsuya calls master, was one who passed on such traditional shinobi magic knowhow.

However, putting aside his priestly attire (which screamed of falsehood anyway), his appearance and residence notwithstanding, no matter how you look at it he lacked a sense of propriety-

"Is that the uniform of the First high school?"

"Yes, we had the entrance ceremony yesterday."

"I see I see. Mmm, it's nice. Does Tatsuya still have it?"

Miyuki frowned. "Yes, but he insists that it's 'unfortunately so'."

"Really, a tragedy." A voice came from behind.

Thwak, the sound of an arm chopping down.

"…Not bad, Tatsuya-kun. Taking me from the back, hah."

Whilst blocking Tatsuya's right arm with his left, Yakumo lashed out from the right.

Weaving his arm in a figure 8, it was enveloped by a fist just as it was about to reach the side.

As Yakumo effortlessly somersaulted forwards, aiming a kick at the back of Tatsuya's head, Tatsuya deftly spun around and dodged.

The gap between the two closed.

A sigh rose from the spectators.

At some point in time, those two had been surrounded by a large circle of people.

Yakumo and Tatsuya exchanged blows again.

* * *

Since Tatsuya's first year of middle school (when he was 10, since he bypassed grades), this would be the setting of the temple every morning. After the chaos of training, they would chat peacefully and the disciples would go do their own exercises.

"Sensei, here." She passed them the basket of sandwiches. "Onii-san, do you want some as well?"

"No, I'm fine." Tatsuya stood, brushing himself off.

Yakumo looked at Tatsuya after grabbing a sandwich.

"Oh? You're energetic today, Tatsuya-kun... Speaking of which, it hasn't been 10 days yet, right?"

Yakumo was probably speaking of his "issue".

There was a 10-day limit as to how long Tatsuya could consecutively stay awake.

"Hn. Mayumi-chan forced me to do so."

"Hm? Little Miss Cradle Robber?"

Tatsuya smiled.

"Yes, that person."

"I don't know. I think I must thank her." Yakumo's voice lowered. "Though, on the day after one of your "collapses", I don't stand a chance, it seems. Well, not in plain physical combat."

He could hear jealous whispers from around the temple.

"Oh, is that so..." Tatsuya stared emptily into the tree line.

"Well, at the very least, I can still have my self-esteem that I lost to an opponent who sleeps once every 10 days."

"Hey, Onii-san, it's rare for Sensei to give out praise. You should take this chance to shout out to the world."

The tone was joking and didn't have any conviction, so Tatsuya started laughing.

Soft and gentle, like a girl's, it was a really rare sight.

Well, not in the sense that it _sounded _like a girl's laugh, but rather, it was so unheard and unused that it had gained a soft, feminine quality.

* * *

Naturally, Tatsuya went to Class A. It was in his schedule, so that much would be obvious.

Conveniently (Strangely might be better) the seats were all in alphabetical order, so he sat down next to Mayumi.

[S]aegusa and [S]hiba.

It might seem that a few people would be in between, but since there were only 25 people in the class, that wasn't necessarily true.

He pulled out a mobile data terminal from his supplies and turned it on.

"Ah? Tatsuya-kun, what are you doing? Class hasn't started yet."

He looked up. "Ah, I fell asleep, so I have to tune this again..." He touched his right eye (or so it seemed) and pulled out a lens.

Now that it wasn't camouflaged, one might be able to see the blue circuits running across it. It seemed like the most intricate machinery in the world, tiny electrical signals blazing through it.

Linking the lens to the data terminal by some wireless method, he began to type.

"Hmm, I don't think I can keep using the typing interface..." He muttered his thoughts out loud.

"Right now, it seems like you still use it incredibly fast, though..." Mayumi frowned.

"Is that so?" Tatsuya muttered.

That might be too high of a level, then.

Either way, he finished in a matter of minutes, and placed the lens back in his eye.

He let it activate, and his sight turned green.

"Hey, Mayumi-chan, does this look right?"

"Well, no matter how I see it, it definitely looks wrong... But it should be okay."

Mayumi was probably referring to the green cross hair that bounced around his eye.

But it was supposed to do that, unfortunately.

"Oh, thanks." He placed his right hand over it, and it deactivated.

Soon after, a message appeared on the screen for the class.

"—Orientation begins in five minutes, so please wait at your desk. Students who have not yet inserted their ID card, please do so as soon as possible—"

"Ah, how boring..." Tatsuya muttered.

"By the way, the workshop and the arena are allowing today, right?"

It was so that new students wouldn't be so confused as to how the classes worked.

"Ah, right."

"Doesn't Tatsuya-kun run the workshop demonstration?"

"...Oh, right."

Tatsuya ran off, despite it being the middle of class.

* * *

"Ah, it's you two, and...?"

It was Mizuki, Erica, and some boy who Tatsuya hadn't met before.

"I'm Saijou Leonhart. My father's a half and my mother's a quarter, so while I look Japanese, my name is Western, and my specialty is Convergent Systematic Reinforcement magic. My desired course is to hone my body and become either riot police or a mountain corpsman.

You can call me Leo."

"Ah, then you must be here to learn 'maintenance?'"

It was expected for those who wanted to specialize in combat.

Needing a Magic Artificer around all the time was a huge disadvantage.

"Yes, that's true. And what's your name?"

"Shiba Tatsuya. Nice to meet you."

"So, Shiba-senpai, what magic do you specialize in?" Leo asked casually.

"Genocide."

"...Excuse me, what?"

"I don't have a specialty, though I'm good at Movement and Oscillation type Magic. If you ask around, people might say that I'm the best at large area effects, though I think there are people who are better at it."

"Excuse me, did you just say you specialized in _genocide magic_? Erica suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean? Genocide isn't a type of magic. And Erica, you look like you're only here because of a grudge."

"No, I'm pretty sure you just said 'genocide'." She paused. "I'm here because this idiot," she poked Leo's back, "Doesn't believe I can take a class that isn't physical."

"So, Shibata, how are you?" He decided to ignore the two who had started arguing. "Why are you here?"

"Ah, I want to become a Magic Artificer." She said.

Magic Artificers were people who specialized in adjusting CADs and reading psion waves.

"I see, it suits you."

When he was talking, a large crowd had appeared.

"Oh, so let me show you something we learn in this class. Erica, can I see your CAD?" He looked pointedly at the baton she held.

"Ah, you can tell?"

"Not many people carry around things like that without reason." Erica handed him the CAD.

He looked at it, and connected it to his data terminal. He scanned the information coming from the baton.

Instead of using his "Elemental Sight" to determine the Psion waves around Erica, he activated the CAD in his right eye.

"Eh? What's that in your eye?" Erica suddenly questioned.

"Ah, it's also a CAD, though there's only one Activation Sequence in it..."

As long as what that sequence was remained a secret, he could say that much.

"Really? They make CADs that small?"

He got numerical input from the device, and continued to speak as he typed. "No, I made it myself. It's dangerous to put something that you don't know works in your eyes. Besides, a CAD with a single activation sequence is too inconvenient for most people, even if it's small."

When using a Specialized CAD, the point was usually to prevent the unwieldy feeling of a general CAD, but the one he had was hard to use in its own way.

Handing the baton back, he said, "Check the psion input now." Just inputting psion signals was harmless, and didn't actually involve the activation of magic.

She moved it slightly in her hand. "Ah? It feels much lighter now... But besides that, it's easier to do now... Thanks!"

After that, a lot of the freshmen wanted to see what he was doing.

* * *

"...This is troublesome." Tatsuya muttered as he took aim with the educational rifle CAD.

He was at the facility for remote precision magic, doing a specialist class run by Class 3A.

Freshmen were lined around the range to view the class.

Well, mostly to see Mayumi.

Almost every person had heard of Mayumi's once in a decade skill at remote precision magic, which had brought multiple awards to their school.

Tatsuya's magic prowess also did such, but he managed to remain at a level where at most, the freshmen had heard that "some guy had gotten a bunch of trophies".

_I wonder how they would feel if they knew Japan's legendary "Ground Zero" was in the school?_

After musing to himself, he pulled the trigger.

A generic air bullet flew fast into target that was twenty meters away.

He looked at the readings.

"Mm... Bulls-eye, a speed of 10 meter per second... Ah, damn."

The power input sign had an initial measurement number, but then it started to rise...

and rise...

and rise...

until eventually the target itself shattered into 7 pieces.

Groans could be heard from the rest of the class.

"Shiba-san, was that you?" Some guy called out.

"I'm afraid so." He called back.

He took a break in favor of watching Mayumi shoot.

Bulls-eye, 13 meters per second, and a fairly good power range.

That was the main difference between the two, but...

"Tatsuya-kun, I thought you had some amount of control right now?" Mayumi called, chidingly.

"Ah, so did I, but I was afraid there might be infighting going on near my sister and I lost concentration." He muttered.

Mayumi turned to look at the freshman class, and her gaze darkened.

"Don't worry, Mayumi-chan. I think I can handle this." He raised his foot, and tapped it, as if waiting for something.

"Ah, I think I'll go lecture them.

* * *

The female student who had been objected to started up an activation sequence by running her fingers up the CAD bracelet she had.

Naturally, an activation sequence referred to the blueprint for a magic ritual.

Taking the place of the "multiple steps" in archaic times for performing magic, activation sequences took the psion energy and converted it into a spell.

In a sense, the psions went into the CAD and became _different_ psions that a magician could naturally use.

At a certain end, if the Psion flow is disrupted, the CAD couldn't change the psions, and the magician couldn't launch the spell.

However, the magician's focus must be considered.

All attention should be placed on the CAD so that the flow would definitely go correctly.

Which would explain why, when a sudden tremor occurred, the student tripped.

"Stop right there! Using attack magic on others for any reason other than self-defense is not just a violation of school rules, it's a criminal offense!"

Upon recognizing the owner of that voice, the female student who was intent on attacking Erika and company became pale, and not as a result of the magic. She fell into another female student, and they collapsed.

The one who gave the warning, was the Student Council president, Saegusa Mayumi.

Her ever-smiling face, even now, did not have much severity in it.

However in the eyes of someone capable in magic, her small figure was wrapped in an aura of Psion light far beyond that of ordinary mages, giving her an inviolable air of dignity.

"You are students from 1A and 1E aren't you.

I will hear you out. Please come along."

A hard, even cold voice, came from the girl next to Mayumi. According to the introduction of the Student Council during the entrance ceremony she was the 3rd year Public Moral Chief, Watanabe Mari.

Mari's CAD held an already deployed and expanded activation sequence.

It was not difficult to imagine what any form of resistance here would lead to.

Leo, Mizuki, and Miyuki's classmates, without a word, stiffened up.

Tatsuya took that moment to rejoin Mayumi at the side of the shooting range.

There wasn't much he could do there, anyways. He had completely destroyed his practice target.

Moving swiftly through the crowd, Tatsuya reached Mari.

"Ah, I'm sorry. That may have been my fault."

Mari's eyes arched in question. "Oh? How so, Vice-President?"

"I was attempting to use vibration-type magic in an experiment to see how it would affect my precision ability. My third-year class is good enough to ignore it, but I feel that some of the freshmen may have been startled. Perhaps they thought that there was an attack."

"Oh, is that so...?" Mari's eyes flashed dangerously, but Tatsuya held his ground.

The inner words (which could only be deciphered by a few) were something like this:

_I'll let these people slide for today- Just go along with it._

_No, these students have to be reprimanded, even if it is the first day._

To anyone who didn't understand, it seemed to be a stare down to which even the air thinned.

Actually, that may have just been because of Mari's Absorption type magic, to which carbon dioxide increased.

Tatsuya caught onto that and activated Regrowth on the air (Well, not really regrowth) to bring it back to a previous state.

"Yes. Watanabe-san, please think rationally."

Oxygen deprivation made one light headed, so it was also a joke, in its own sense, because restoring oxygen allowed people to think normally.

People tend to think they're always thinking normally, so they don't notice the change.

Realizing that the staring contest would last forever, Mayumi intervened.

"Anyways, Mari, it's fine. If it's something that happened because of a class, then no one is at fault." Her smile never wavered. "And besides, isn't it better to give the freshmen one free pass?"

"...Since the President has said so, I will refrain this time. I don't want there to be a second time." She also seemed to mutter something about "favoritism" or "terrible excuses", but it wasn't discernible with all the commotion.

Without looking like bitter enemies, together they straightened and gave a bow. Mari turned around.

Walking off, she called out.

"And Shiba-san, you must remember that upholding public morals is the Public Moral Committee's duty."

* * *

**Ah, I'm so done here.**

**There were a few things I felt like adding, but didn't.**

**By the way, wouldn't you love to have CAD contact lenses?**

**Even if you can only use one magic, if it's something like Meteor Stream, you can choose to shoot lasers out of your eye.**

**I'm such a serious writer, can't you tell?**

**-Edit: Patched up October 22. 2014.**

**-Edit 2: The editing thirst is real. Plans for chapter rewrite later.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi again.**

**Tatsuya does have proper emotions, but I find it hard to see Tatsuya suddenly shifting into a tsukkomi role.**

**Though, a giant paper fan would be cool.**

**I don't own Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei.**

* * *

...What was the word again?

Absurd? No, it was pretty okay by his standards.

Tiring? He actually seemed to be gaining energy.

Ah. Tedious. That was it.

"That's why I'm saying, it would be better to settle this traditionally." Mari spoke calmly.

"You say traditionally, but I'm fairly sure that the large number of duels only started recently." Tatsuya frowned.

Glares were shot from one side of the table to the other.

"Okay, calm down, you two." Mayumi attempted to play 'peacemaker'. "We can settle thi-"

"With a duel, right/ With a compromise, right?"

They both interrupted at almost same time, only to continue glaring.

Mayumi smiled somewhat uneasily, but continued.

"We can settle this with a duel, as Mari said."

Tatsuya had a _shocked-betrayed_ look on his face, but Mayumi used sound reasoning.

"Mari shouted first, so she gets to choose."

_Sound reasoning._

Yeah. Totally.

"Either way, Mari shouldn't be challenging people personally so that she can hold up her reputation as Public Morals Chief."

"..."

"..._right?_"

"Oh, well as long as no one knows about it." She shrugged.

Besides, not many get to challenge the school's number One."

Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.

"What am I, a museum exhibit?"

"No, but no one knows what you can do besides for the President..."

Currently, they were in the Student Council Room, waiting for the Freshman Representative, Miyuki, to show up.

She had been invited to join the student council during lunch.

Tatsuya had packed his own lunch, but he wondered what Miyuki would pick.

On Mayumi's left was Tatsuya, then an empty chair.

On her right was Ichihara Suzune, then Watanabe Mari, then Nakajou Azusa.

"...Well, if you lose, won't that be bad for your reputation?"

"Ah, I don't really mind. As long as you win in an interesting way."

..._What a troublesome person_.

For Tatsuya, who just wanted to enjoy his last year of high school without breaking rules, Mari was someone to avoid, even unconsciously.

"How am I supposed to win in an interesting way? Everything I do is boring, obviously." He leaned back.

"Can't you use the Vibration-Type 'Seismic Cage'?"

"...On an 'authority figure'?"

"Sure, why not?"

Such a carefree answer.

'Seismic Cage' was a magic that used Vibration-type magic to such an extreme level that the ground turned viscous.

Last year, he had used it to storm Monolith Code in the Nine Schools Competition, turning earth into quicksand.

Past that, there was 'Tectonic Scramble', but that was a brutal wide-area magic that literally changed the positioning of objects above the ground using a vibration wave under the earth. (Meaning, objects ride on a wave of viscous solids)

It was good for remodeling houses, though.

* * *

Miyuki walked in to the student council room, and everyone suddenly became quiet.

She imagined there was bickering going on, but everyone had an extremely composed face.

"Oh? Hello, Miyuki-chan."

Miyuki bowed in greeting.

A honed movement, reminiscent of their deceased mother.

It was quite overdone for the members of the student council that were very open.

"Miyuki-chan... You don't need to be so formal." Mayumi almost seemed to shrink back.

"...Ah." The perfect greeting and posture was almost instantly dropped in stead of a cheerful smile and a loosened posture.

It wasn't slumped, but it wasn't rigid, either.

It seemed the others were overwhelmed, but Mari spoke.

"Hey, Shiba-san, if Miyuki can do that, why can't you?" She leered at Tatsuya.

_Oh?_

_It sounds like a challenge._

His posture straightened from the comfortable slouch he took, and his eyes became sharp again.

"Well, it would be ideal if I could manage this behavior, but Miyuki is much more competent than me in matters of communication. So, I'm afraid I must apologize."

The words had a fairly hospitable meaning, but...

The oppression surged like a wave.

Reminiscent of meeting a government official or diplomat, that was Tatsuya's habitual speech, one expected from a Yotsuba Head.

It was only half as scary as Yotsuba Maya's, though.

However (read: luckily), he abandoned that in favor of normalcy.

Well, as far as normalcy goes for Shiba Tatsuya.

"...Ah, Shiba-senpai can be scary too, huh." Azusa suddenly muttered.

"Well, ignoring that, Miyuki-chan, please take a seat. We can talk while we eat."

A wireless signal was sent to the table, changing it's layout from "round table" to a long, dining table.

Miyuki slid out the empty seat and sat down.

"So, what kind of meal would you like?"

From the robot, the Dinner Server Module, complex selections were the gimmick.

Instead of a 'vending machine' type of service, a whole meal with different kinds of foods was available.

"Oh, meat, please."

After receiving orders from everyone, Azusa activated a large cupboard-shaped machine in a cavity in the wall.

Now they would wait.

"We talked at the introduction ceremony, but I still need to introduce these people."

"To my left is our Accountant, Ichihara Suzune, or 'Rin-chan'."

"Sorry, no one but Mayumi-chan calls her that, so don't go along with it." Tatsuya muttered. Suzune nodded in agreement, and Mayumi, feeling somewhat like she had been surrounded on all sides, just continued.

"In the middle is the Public Morals Committee Chairman, Watanabe Mari, though I'm sure you've met her."

"On the far side is A-chan, or Nakajou Azusa." Azusa pouted, but because of her childish features, she gave the impression of a kid about to cry.

"...I don't even get my actual name introduced first?"

Tatsuya shrugged. Suzune nodded.

"You guys are awful, you know?"

Mayumi continued on.

"Lastly, we have the Vice President, Shiba Tatsuya, though I'm sure you've met him somewhere." Mayumi gave a dry laugh. "That's the whole Student Council, though Mari is not a member."

Looking to the side, Azusa piped up.

"Ah! The food is ready!"

The "door" for the Dinner Server opened, 4 trays appearing.

This was normal.

Tatsuya had a terrible habit of almost instantly memorizing _other_ people's habits as a way to find their weakness, whatever that may be.

That was normal, too.

As Azusa carried trays back and forth, Tatsuya pulled a traditional square black bento box from under the table (?). Inside was a quite unoriginal rice, meat, and vegetables meal reminiscent of old Japan.

Mari pulled out a slightly less traditional, sort of oval-shaped bento box.

As everyone took their utensils, lunch began.

"Ah, Tatsuya's cooking is so good~" Mayumi snatched a _tempura shrimp_ from Tatsuya and put it in her mouth.

This is also normal.

"..."

Tatsuya looked at his bento in utter depression.

"Come to think of it, Shiba-san isn't very dominant in this relationship, is he?" Mari suddenly observed. Everyone was suddenly looking his direction.

This isn't nearly as normal.

But, a conversation must start, or the atmosphere will become tense.

"Watanabe-san, did you make that yourself?" Tatsuya tried, to no avail, to change the subject.

"Yes, why? Is it surprising?"

A question that would be difficult to answer at the start of a conversation.

"No, I was just wondering if Mayumi could eat from -your- bento so I don't starve."

"Ehhh... I don't think my cooking is as good as yours." Mari shrugged. "Besides, doesn't President get lunch from the Dinner Server?"

"I do, but Tatsuya-kun makes food very well, so I want to "taste-test" it."

"In other words," Suzune started, a dry sort of 'smile' on her face, "Tatsuya can't wear the pants in a relationship?"

"Hey, hey. That's really mean, Rin-chan." Tatsuya muttered, frowning.

"Well, I guess that instead, we can all just bring our bentos tomorrow." Miyuki spoke up. "Isn't that right?"

The bickering wouldn't go anywhere, even if it wasn't serious.

"It's about time we get to the point."

It was somewhat sudden, but lunch break couldn't last forever (no matter how much anyone wished it).

Miyuki nodded upon hearing Mayumi's words.

"Just as our school places heavy emphasis on self determination, the Student Council has been granted vast powers within the confines of the school. Not only our school, but most public high schools also adopt a similar method."

The principle decided less on the previous management system, and more of a self-determinate system, as the old management system had too many disadvantages with this kind of Japan.

"Our Student Council uses the traditional method of concentrating the power and authority in the president. This presidential style can also be described as extreme centralization."

Of course, this might have led to many questions, because of the amount of power being distributed.

"The president is elected by the student body, the other members are appointed by the president. With a few exceptions, the president has the right of appointment and removal for all officers."

Watanabe Mari spoke.

"My position as the Chair of the Public Moral Committee is one of those exceptions. The Student Council, the Club Management Group, and the teachers each select a representative to determine this position."

"And because of this, on some level Mari holds the same authority I do. Under the rules, the president has a term period, but the others do not. The term lasts from October 1 to September 30 of the next year. Between this time, the president has the right of appointment and removal for all officers."

(Hopefully, Miyuki will at least get a choice.)

He, of course, didn't, but that was more 'pressure' than anything else.

"There is an annual tradition to invite the Freshman representative to the Student Council, with the intent of training them to become the successor. Hopefully, the 1st Year representative will be elected to be the next Student Council President. Although it is not a guarantee, this has been the case for the past 5 years."

"Ah, I have a question." Miyuki stated.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Isn't the Freshman Representative based on initial exam scores?"

"Yes, why?"

"Among the current third years, isn't onii-san's entrance score the highest?"

In terms of simply Magic Power, Tatsuya was the best.

Adding the theoretical exams, the gap between him and the next was abysmal.

"Well, naturally, yes." Mayumi added on: "But due to certain circumstances, Tatsuya's scores were not available until two days after school started."

Azusa interrupted. "Eh? What circumstances?"

"Secret." Tatsuya laughed.

"Well, either way, I hope that Miyuki-chan can enter our Student Council."

She looked directly at Miyuki.

"So, are you willing to accept?"

Miyuki seemed to think about it, before nodding.

"Yes, I am, though I'm not sure I can do my job as good as all of you can."

Mayumi waved it off.

"Ah, you'll figure it out, I'm sure.

"Well, in this case, I think that lunch is already over." Tatsuya mentioned.

He quickly stood up, and prepared to leave.

"Oh, don't forget about your duel, Tatsuya!"

He walked more quickly.

* * *

In the hallway, he started moving slowly.

Assassins were hiding with illusion magic.

It was nothing impressive, and for anyone who had even a small sense of premonition, they could tell to get away.

Compared to some of the more extreme murder attempts, this one felt a little low class.

He came to a complete stop.

There were 3 options.

1) He could either see if Miyuki would catch on and activate 'Cocytus', or 2) he could decompose them immediately (though that was overkill) or 3)-

The assassins jumped out of the ceiling.

Well, not really the ceiling.

In general, they sort of just appeared.

But that's not important.

What is important is that there are now 7 or 8 knives sticking out of Tatsuya's body. For some reason, blood wasn't leaking out.

Sighing, he 'disappeared' into nothing, the knives clattering to the ground.

He then reappeared in a space right behind where he was, completely unharmed, and activated Decomposition.

Every part of his supposed "murderers" disappeared into nothing.

"Ah, because I didn't finish thinking about the 3rd option, I did it anyways..."

Non-systematic 'Vacuum Space'.

A compromise he had reached at 7 with his aunt, it was an ability that literally forced an area to have no psions or pushions.

That space completely void of psions follows him like a shadow.

If he were to die, he would "write himself" into that space.

Because, his magic is split into 5 parts.

1\. Decomposition of information bodies, or Eidos. (Decomposition)

2\. Rewinding of Eidos. (Regrowth)

3\. Elemental Sight (though that really isn't a 'magic', per se).

4\. Rewriting Eidos. (Generic Magic)

5\. Replication of 'events' and 'Eidos' within the information dimension. (Repeat/Write)

He actually didn't have the last one until he had experimented with mixing Generic Magic and Regrowth.

It was simply the byproduct.

Obviously, the last one would be the hardest to use.

By recording his own "information body" from 2 minutes ago, he had copied it into the vacuum space and destroyed his old "information body" almost immediately.

It was a terrible power at the equivalent of cloning.

"Ah, did Onii-san have trouble with anything?"

Both siblings went through the Guardian Training.

For the rest of the Yotsuba Clan, Miyuki was his 'Guardian'.

But that was really only in name.

* * *

(Miyuki's POV)

As I walked down the hallway that Onii-san had rushed down, for some reason, I watched him be impaled by a multitude of assassins.

Then, I watched as, in the span of 2 seconds, he disappeared and reappeared.

One more second, those people simply disappeared.

I shuddered.

I really can't help it, as much as I regret.

Maybe because of something in the past, or maybe just something I do instinctively.

But whenever I see his 'power', I fear.

Specifically, I fear Onii-san.

It's a terrible emotion, I think. One that doesn't do onii-san justice.

But I can't imagine myself without it.

The rest of the Yotsuba praise him for it, Mayumi completely ignores it, but...

The top of the world must be a lonely place.

* * *

"No, I'm fine, Miyuki. Thank you." Tatsuya brushed himself off.

* * *

After school, Tatsuya found himself dragging his feet.

Even though the reason for it was a little pathetic, Miyuki understood (somewhat) and followed along quietly.

Eventually, they reached the Student Council Room, where Mari and the student council was waiting.

"Well, let's get this done quickly." Tatsuya said resignedly.

"Of course."

However, someone walked into the room.

"Watanabe-senpai, please wait a minute."

The voice came from a member of the Public Morals Committee. Upon hearing this, Mari replied in a manner that to this day Tatsuya still cannot get used to.

"Is something the matter, Hattori Gyoubushoujou Hanzou?"

"Please don't address me by my full name!"

"Eh? Well, in that case, why don't we just go with 'Hattori Hanzou'?"

"Why can't you just say Hattori Gyoubo?"

"But, it's just your family title, not your actual name..."

"The school has already accepted 'Hattori Gyoubo', so it's in the school's database."

"But, Saegusa Mayumi is in the school database, and Tatsuya still calls her 'Cradle Robber..." Mari frowned in a somewhat joking manner.

"This and that are two different things!"

The humorous conversation was suddenly interrupted.

"Ah, can we continue on with what we were doing?" Mayumi said.

Perhaps she didn't want the conversation to go too far.

"Ah, the topic I wanted to address has to do with this."

"Hm?" Mari tilted her head.

"I object to the formal duel between Shiba Tatsuya and Watanabe Mari."

"And why is that?"

"If Watanabe-senpai's reputation is on the line, I feel as if she shouldn't be fighting Shiba-senpai of all people."

Watching these two people, Suzune was very calm, Azusa was very nervous, and Mayumi was completely unreadable, sitting there with a traditional smile on her face.

"But, it's so we can figure out what the Vice President can do, in the first place..." Mari spoke.

The only time anyone saw Tatsuya use any kind of unique magic was during 'Monolith Code' and 'Speed Shooting'.

Even then, the only two he used were 'Vibration-type Seismic Cage' and 'Vibration-type Viral Impact'.

'Viral Impact' was an ability that used the vibration wave from the Speed Shooting target to force the others to either stop or downright break.

"...I see. However, won't there be much more work to do if you lose?"

If students thought that the Public Morals Chair was weaker than she was, than they would be much more willing to start trouble.

"In that case, just work harder. If you object so much, why don't you take my place in the mock battle?" She challenged.

Hattori froze. "N-no, I'm fine."

"In that case, why don't we just continue?

Without a moment's delay, Mayumi interjected.

"As the Student Council President, I authorize the formal mock battle match between 3rd Year Class B, Watanabe Mari and 3rd Year Class A, Shiba Tatsuya."

"On the basis of the Student Council President's declaration, as the Chair of Public Morals Committee, I recognize that the match between the two of you as a legitimate extracurricular activity in abidance of the school rules."

"The time of the match will be thirty minutes from now, at the third practice room. The match will be a private one, and I authorize the use of CADs by both sides."

Grins were on both of their faces, and Tatsuya felt like just collapsing on the ground.

It was a measure to prevent the match from becoming a brawling incident — an act of violence forbidden by the school rules.

On the declaration from Mayumi and Mari with solemn expressions and nonchalant voices, Azusa started typing furiously into the terminal.

* * *

"Ah? You aren't bringing a CAD?" Mari questioned.

The room was Training Room 3, for simulated battles.

"No, I have two, but I can only show you this one..." He waved his metallic glove.

An unspoken rule was that it was bad manners to question someone else's magic.

It was good to hide a trump card, when possible.

"Alright, allow me to explain the rules. In terms of either direct or indirect attacks, lethal attacks are forbidden. Techniques that deal permanent disabilities to the opponent are also forbidden. Abilities that cause direct harm to the physical body are forbidden. However, direct attacks that do not result in anything greater than bone fractures are permitted. No weapons at any time. Unarmed combat is allowed. If you plan on using kicking techniques, please remove your shoes and change into the school's soft boots. The condition for defeat is when the judge has determined one side is unable to continue the battle. Both sides please move behind your respective starting lines, and do not activate your CAD until I give the signal. Breaking the rules results in an automatic defeat. I will use my full strength to stop it, so remember that. That is all."

Mayumi said the rules in place of Mari, who moved to the starting place.

"Say, Watanabe-san, if you _had_ to take a physical hit, where would it be?"

"Hm, my lower right arm should be fine..."

After this question, silence filled the room. Mari used a generic bracelet Generalized CAD, on her left wrist.

"Begin!" The judge, Mayumi said.

Almost instantly, Mari had her hand on her CAD, and Tatsuya hovered his right hand over his right eye. He also had his glove-shaped Generalized Cad on.

Actually, a kicking technique would be very convenient, but he hadn't switched to the soft boots.

The air thinned very quickly, and Tatsuya began to think faster in order to make the most of his current rational state.

Regrowth would take too much time.

Decomposition should be illegal.

Elemental sight was useless.

He only had one choice, as the contact lens CAD only had his unique "Repeat-Type" magic.

That was his original plan, anyways. Technically, he could use his other game-breaker abilities like Cast Jamming but that would give too much away.

Before that, he would go with the all too predictable Seismic Cage.

The vibrations being condensed into a small area, shot forward in 4 paths, around Mari.

"Ah, I guess that would work." He muttered, watching the Public Morals Chair leap in random directions to keep on the surface.

He stopped the vibrations on the surface as he noticed the airflow was changing.

He felt a simulated 'Sleepiness', probably from Mari's Aromatherapy, but he raised his left hand inconspicuously, and it was gone.

Naturally, Regrowth was better in the left hand.

His CAD was in the right eye so it was more likely to affect his left side.

Well, that was because it connected directly to the right side of the brain (Which, if you don't remember, the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body).

He rushed forward with a generic physical technique, but Mari was already prepared.

A Movement-type magic that was meant to swiftly blow back attackers.

Hattori was also well-versed in it, but Mari's versatility and mastery in multiple fields made her better at it.

However, as she started the attack, Tatsuya had completely disappeared.

"Behind you." He slammed his fist into Mari's lower right arm.

The cross hair in Tatsuya's right eye stopped moving. Mari prepared to use an air bullet, but as if some impact had hit her right arm a second time, she recoiled.

Tatsuya moved back.

The recoiling kept happening until Mari fell to the ground.

"...Winner, Shiba Tatsuya."

There was a blank look on the winner's face.

"Well, you wanted to see something interesting..." He muttered.

"Ah? Shiba-senpai, what kind of magic was that?" Azusa questioned curiously.

"A-chan, it's rude to inquire about other people's magic..." Mayumi interrupted.

"I used Seismic Cage, didn't you see it in the Nine Schools Competition?" Tatsuya answered vaguely.

Mari regained her bearings. "...Right then, did you teleport?"

"I can't answer that."

He had repeated the action of 'sidestepping' within the information dimension, maybe 6 times.

These occurrences were all set to happen at the exact same time.

In an oversimplified sense, Tatsuya was, in fact, teleporting.

"Though, if you held on for another minute, I would have to forfeit."

This was so that he didn't destroy anything.

5 minutes was the longest he had for immaculate control.

Past an hour, using anything but Regrowth and Decomposition would result in a large crater perpetually forming around him.

"My, Tatsuya-kun, that was a strange way to win this battle..." Mayumi muttered.

"Ah, even though you used a lot of techniques, I'm only more confused..." Mari said.

* * *

A few days after that, Tatsuya was in the halls. For whatever reason, Erika had been in the hall, as well.

As expected, classes were boring.

Miyuki was still getting used to the Secretary position, but otherwise, it was like last year.

Well, right now...

"Don't worry Mibu, it's only a demonstration for the Kendo club. I won't use any magic on you."

This was an argument between Mibu Sayaka, a Kendo club member, and Kirihara Takeaki, a Kenjutsu club member.

"Hah, you think that someone like you can defeat me with only technique? How arrogant of you."

"Kenjutsu is only to increase bodily limitations. I don't need any of that to defeat you!"

That was the signal of the fight.

Kirihara lunged forward and swung his shinai towards her head.

The sounds of shinais beating each other echoed in the room, followed by screams that came seconds later. The spectators couldn't tell what was going on. They could only listen as bamboo and bamboo hit one another, sounds so violent that they almost sounded metallic. Most were only able to imagine the intense fighting taking place.

Tatsuya was thoroughly unimpressed.

"I wonder who will win…"

Erika asked in a quiet voice.

"Mibu seems like she has the upper hand. Though, personally, both sides make a lot of wasted movement. In reality, this does seem like more of a demonstration than anything.

Tatsuya answered in a whisper.

"The reason?"

"Kirihara is avoiding the head when he attacks. That first move he made was a bluff because he knew that she was easily going to take it. Besides, he's limited by not being able to use his magic. In terms of technique alone, Mibu is much better. Lastly, Kirihara has to consciously avoid activating magic out of habit."

"Agreed. But, the question is, can Kirihara-senpai hold himself in until the end?"

Kirihara suddenly roared while lunging forward and attacks from both opponents struck head on.

"Is it a draw?"

"No, it's not."

Kirihara's shinai skimmed Sayaka's left arm while Sayaka's shinai was stuck in his right shoulder.

"Ugh."

Kirihara used his left hand to push away her shinai and dove back.

"He lost because he tried to change his aim in the middle of the attack."

"I see, so that's why he seemed to waver in his attack. It was the perfect timing to make it a draw… but I guess he couldn't cut off his feelings."

Tatsuya and the others weren't the only ones who knew the match was over.

Seated towards the front of the crowd were members of the Kendo club and the Kenjutsu club. The Kendo members let out a sigh of relief while the Kenjutsu members clenched their teeth in anger.

"If this were a real fight, then this would have been a mortal wound. The attack you made on me didn't even reach my bones. Just admit your loss."

He suddenly started letting out a hollow laugh. Did he admit his defeat? It didn't seem that way.

He pressed the fingers in his metallic glove to the palm, starting an activation sequence.

Tatsuya's sense of danger shot up within him. The only person who sensed this more than Tatsuya was the one who was standing in front of Kirihara — Sayaka.

He recovered his stance, pointed his weapon at her, and looked sharply at her.

"A real fight, you say? If this was a real fight, you wouldn't even be able to cut me. Mibu, do you really want to have a real fight? Then… I'll show you what a 'real fight' is!"

The kenjutsu leader activated his CAD using his right hand, making shouts begin from the spectators.

He leaped forward, the Vibration-type 'Sonic Blade' active.

Mibu was already moving back, but the blade was coming down.

In the end, it never made contact.

In the end, the shinai fell to the ground.

In the end, Kirihara found himself five feet under, only his head over the surface.

(Honestly, why isn't the Public Morals Committee here?) He thought to himself.

"Kirihara-san, in a real fight, I could have forced you another foot under, and you would have suffocated."

He looked down at the person.

"Really, do you want a real fight?"

* * *

**So that was Tatsuya's fighting showcase.**

**Though, it may be around one twentieth of his total power.**

**"Repetition type" refers to a strange combination of Regrowth and advanced Magic that allows for Tatsuya to repeat an action, in any location, as many times as he likes.**

**However, it's the hardest to calculate, and easiest to lose control of, so it's easiest to record the location of an event and use that.**

**The character interaction wasn't as good since I was just planning to showcase ability here, but now, apparently, Mari and Tatsuya have a rivalry.  
**

**You might have noticed that last chapter.**


	4. Chapter 4

**-I heard a voice a few weeks ago.**

**It told me to get up and do some shit.**

**It pestered me for days and days, until-**

**-Naturally, I didn't do anything.**

**Did you know that I'm 58 favorites off being the top story in this section?**

**My writing style probably changed a ton by simply not writing- it always mirrors my current thinking, which is sorta... off, all the time.**

**By the way, if you see a name that you don't recognize, it is not going to stick around for more than 5 paragraphs.**

**I don't own MKnR- Maybe I should put that in the summary so I don't have to keep listing it.**

**Extra note- If you got two notifications, it's because I didn't get any and reposted the chapter, so...**

* * *

And so it was done.

What was done?

A lot of things happened, but what was -done- is a different story.

It happened to involve staring, glaring, and a burning stick.

As such-

-"...So, how about it? Want to fight me?" Tatsuya smiled cheerfully (sadistically) as he looked down on the Kenjutsu club member.

Kirihara wisely turned the offer down.

His club members weren't quite as wise.

"Oi, oi! You think you're such a big-shot because you took down Kirihara, do you? Well-"

"(Kensuke, I don't think that's a good id-)"

"-how about you learn your place?!"

A frenzied Kenjutsu club member (Kensuke?) shouted at the Vice-President.

A large number of people cringed visibly.

His allies supported him from behind, before charging at Tatsuya.

The person then activated their own CAD, which caused their wooden s_hinai_ to blaze with fire._  
_

Tatsuya quickly identified it, while dancing around his 'adversaries'.

A generic Speed-Type magic that combusted the air around a target object.

"Er..." Tatsuya pursed his lips, almost toying with the blades coming at him.

On one hand, it was for the best to fix the mistakes of others.

On the other hand, this person was holding a burning stick.

...Whatever.

Tatsuya simply stared at the maddened swordsman.

Swordsman glared back.

*Jiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*

"What's so funny, huh?"

"That's a wooden stick." Tatsuya pointed out like it was the most important thing since daily meals.

"What else could it be?" The kenjutsu person sneered.

"That's a _burning_ wooden stick."

"What's your po- hot-hot-HOT!"

Throwing the sword (burning stick) around like a hot potato, it eventually landed in the hands of one of his friends.

Said person threw it up as well, not realizing how fast he was (attempting to) move.

He crashed into another person.

The sword landed in Tatsuya's hands, and said boy simply shrugged and tossed it back into the air.

"...It's like a circus..." Chiba Erica muttered from the side.

Tatsuya bowed out of the magnificent clusterfuck and into the crowd.

As usual, someone appeared. This is natural, or there would be no story development.

"What happened here?" Mayumi tilted her head.

The burning stick continued to be tossed around. No one even thought about dropping due to fear of burning their feet.

Tatsuya put on his sunglasses.

"I guess you could say...

They tried to play with fire."

Okay, so that didn't happen. Tatsuya wouldn't have sunglasses, and Mayumi couldn't just appear out of nowhere. Nor would Tatsuya be caught dead throwing a punchline.

Well, the burning stick happened.

After Tatsuya bowed out of the situation, what _really_ happened was the accosting of one Kirihara Takeaki while his club members where knocked out by carefully timed trips and silent beckonings toward the dangerous item.

If he had his way, the entire club would be bowing at his feet when he was done.

Too bad he never gets to have his way.

"...What happened here?"

The Public Morals Committee leader walked to the scene, having been alerted by a student witness.

"Kendo-Kenjutsu demonstration match. Unauthorized initiation of a Magic Sequence, handled. Burning stick."

He gestured to the cowering Kenjutsu person on the ground.

"Tch... As expected, to take out more than five people is only child's play, Vice-President?" In grudging admiration, she watched Tatsuya stomp out the flame burning from the sword.

"Oh? I didn't do much, you shouldn't give me credit. Also, there were exactly eight people. Most were wise to just back off."

With a sickly smile, Tatsuya spoke those extremely average words.

"Well, since you aren't going to concede that matter, do you know how this incident started?"

"I have no clue. Whatever kind of provocation happened is beyond me." Casually shrugging, he noticed someone else. "Oh, Juumonji-san." He tossed a wave.

"Shiba-san." A boy nodded in acknowledgement.

Juumonji Katsuto.

Bearing the "Ten" of the Ten Master Clans, he was the eldest child of the Juumonji House, and the head of the school's Club Management Group.

The man was taller than him, perhaps 185 centimeters? Based solely on this information, he could be seen as towering above others. Besides, he commanded respect from the rest of the school, no matter what kind of person.

There were no excep-

* * *

**File 01 Lesson 1- Lost Warfare Records**

**2085**

The man ran through the compound. Not much could be seen, as it was night-time. However with the little amount of moonlight from the sky, one could see that his hair was white, and his face had the tell tale wrinkles of old age.

Despite his frail looks, his speed was faster than any normal 30-year old. Feet tapped lightly on the ground, as if cushions of air were stopping sound from reverberating.

He had a rather simple goal.

However, when taking into consideration his identity and his motives, it became a problem.

He no longer went by any name, as his mental magic rendered it useless.

His last name (former) came into play, however.

Yotsuba.

His goal?

Kill the Yotsuba Scion, Shiba Tatsuya.

He held a power called 'Vanishing Point' that completely destroyed memories based on a chosen subject. Due to the use of this, his body slowly fell into disrepair, causing him to look and feel twenty years older than he was.

He was currently 40.

This, however, is not important right now.

The core of this is the necessity to kill the boy.

He had once taught the boy, yes, and he knew that Tatsuya was a good person. Even at six, the young heir had quickly caught on to all the things that the old man had taught him.

The man had done a lot of things for the Yotsuba, from torturing others to sneaking into enemy territory.

Nevertheless, he was getting close to his destination.

He opened the door...

A guard turned to look at him, before raising his CAD.

The white-haired man just raised one of his hands.

The guard suddenly collapsed to the floor grabbing at his neck. Squirming, he could only watch as the infiltrator walked past him.

After all, he had forgotten how to breathe, from the short term memories to the reflexive memories.

Quietly, the man walked through corridors with a resolution in mind.

Shiba Tatsuya, as he was, could not become Yotsuba Head.

Even if the Yotsuba would remain the strongest, all of their sacrifices would be pointless under the young boy's rule.

After all, the boy was too kind to sacrifice others, too nice to kill.

If there was one thing the man knew, it was sacrifice.

After all, not everyone destroyed their entire family's memory of them to protect them.

Finding the door, the man slowly pulled it open.

Inside was the non-sleeping child, at his desk.

The man took note that the child had already prepared for any attack, from wavelengths that prevented mental magic to the small amount of Antinite***** the boy kept on him.

"Jii...san?" Tatsuya muttered from his chair.

The man held no remorse. What he did hold, however, was a knife, dipped in poison, as a fail safe.

Tatsuya looked carefully, seeing a glint of steel in his teacher's hands.

His training kicked in before his brain did, slipping around the knife that was rushing towards him. Tatsuya backed up, towards the door.

A flurry of blows came towards him, and though he managed to dodge most, a strong punch blew him backwards, stumbling.

The knife came towards him again.

This time more than his training surfaced, but his survival instinct.

He retaliated, attacking the frail man with the thought process of a wild animal. As if taken over, the boy landed blow after blow, though they lacked the normal finesse that he normally aimed for.

Eventually, he heard a crack, and the man went down, clutching his rib, knife on the other side of the room.

It then occurred to him.

What now?

Normally, kaa-san would deal with this, but he was alone, and it was the middle of the night.

The downed man spoke to him.

"Well, kid? What will you do?"

"..." Tatsuya was at a loss. "I... I don't know."

The man chuckled bitterly.

"Yeah, of course you don't, brat. I'll tell you. Last lesson, okay?" He closed his eyes, his expression in pain.

Tatsuya simply waited.

"When someone attacks you, you kill. You kill and nothing else." He paused, seeing Tatsuya's expression.

"B-but wh-"

"No, there's no mercy. No mercy for traitors, for enemies... there won't be any exceptions on the battlefield."

Tatsuya raised his right hand shakily, and the man who lost his name knew that the right hand meant death.

Decomposition.

Nevertheless, he continued.

"I can see your hesitation. Will you hesitate when your family is attacked? Will you pause and think about your actions while everyone around you is slaughtered? Well, there will be none of that in the Yotsuba. Not now, not ever. That's how it's always been. Now..."

Tatsuya's tightened expression started to crumble.

"...Will you do it and move forward, or perish thinking on what might be?"

Seconds passed.

Minutes.

Days, it seemed. Tatsuya blinked and looked away, determined not to look at the passing.

"That won't do. Look your enemy in the eye. What if they had a surprise attack and you were distracted?"

Tatsuya attempted to tighten his features, once more, and...

**the man ceased to exist**

No blood, clothes, or even the knife. As far as he saw, there was no trace of the man's existence.

**murderer "self defense" excuses**

Shaken, the boy turned off the lamp at his dest, unable to concentrate.

**move forward or perish**

The boy cried to sleep that night.

The file on the camera was saved and sent to the Yotsuba head.

**File 01 END**

* * *

"Vice President?"

The Public Morals Committee chairman spoke.

"...Ah, sorry, I was lost in thought. What is it?"

"I was asking, on either side, who activated magic?"

Pointing to various Kendo Club members rather vindictively, he was eventually excused from club headquarters so that the problem could be dealt with.

Unfortunately, headquarters found themselves in a different building than the Student Council room.

Tatsuya sighed and put his hands in his pockets, still in a daze.

_Though bad memories will resurface, please remember that they are les-_

Tatsuya stopped thinking about that and snapped back to attention.

Moving into a posture befitting of a prince, he took note of the time.

_Evening already, huh?_

Heading towards the main entrance to the school, he noticed that some people were still hanging around there.

"Ah, onii-san." Miyuki stopped her conversation and waved. He noticed that Erika, Leo, and Mizuki were hanging around her.

He bitterly noted that Erika got out of being a witness and he didn't.

It perhaps had to do with his major interference, but that wasn't important.

"Oh, it looks like you spent a long time in there, huh, Tatsuya?" The red-haired girl smirked.

(How informal...) "Oh? Well, next time, you can interfere and see how it's like being a first hand witness, right?" Tatsuya shot back.

Bitter retort taken care of, he turned back to Miyuki. "I still have a few things to take care of in the Student council room, so you can go ahead without me."

Miyuki shook her head. "No, it's fine. I'll go with you."

Tatsuya shrugged, and walked towards the building.

As Miyuki brushed her hair to the side, Tatsuya started a conversation.

"So, how's school?" He asked quite casually.

"Well, it's nice, I guess."

"Eh? That reaction is so half-hearted. Do you not want to tell me something?" Tatsuya joked.

"W-what? No, that's not the case." This came as Miyuki's honest answer.

Even knowing that, Tatsuya prodded onward.

"Are you sure? It sounds like you have a crush~" He smiled inwardly.

Flustered, Miyuki raised her voice. "O-onii-san! Implying a relation ship at the beginning of school is just-"

Tatsuya laughed quietly. "Joking, joking..."

Looking at the siblings, the three had astonished expressions.

"...Is this what they call the perfect sibling relationship?" Leo muttered, sounding almost disappointed.

Erika picked up on that and took the opportunity.

"Oh? I had no idea," she started playfully. "Do you want 'that' kind of a relationship with some cute imouto?"

"Oi, what are you saying!?" Leo protested.

Erika mocked a little sister tone, like one in a galgame. "Onii-chan, I want to play~with~you~"

"WHAT KIND OF ACCUSATION DO YOU THINK YOU'RE MAKING!? Or, rather, unless _you_ have those fantasies, how would you be able to do that?"

"U-um, guys, please calm down..." The Mizuki with almost no screen-time spoke.

However, the two continued to toss barbs at one another.

* * *

So when Tatsuya said 'A few things', he meant a few things.

Like, 2 things.

Therefore, they had left the building to see three people discussing the different relationships between brother and sister.

"..." Tatsuya was stone-faced, grimly considering if it was right to make these people friends.

"Um..." Miyuki interrupted them. "What are you talking about?"

The three immediately separated, and Erica chuckled.

"Ahaha! Nothing in particular, Miyuki." Erika said.

Trying to salvage the situation, Tatsuya offered. "Well, since you've all been waiting here, why don't we go eat? It looks like no one has anything better to do."

Laughing weakly, Mizuki accepted for all three of them.

* * *

"My, it's as if everyone's trying to drag me into their business..." Tatsuya said quietly while he walked in the hall.

"Oh, what do you mean?" Mayumi absently responded to Tatsuya's derailed train of thought.

"Well, since last week, after I incapacitated the Kenjutsu Club, everyone's trying to get me to back them up... In general their problems are not my problems, but then they suddenly are."

Mayumi just nodded and listened.

"Shiba-senpai." A voice- definitely female, but somewhat masculine called from behind them.

"See what I mean?" Tatsuya sighed.

"Wow, that's quite a long sigh. Besides, people normally don't approach us together, normally. They always wait until we split up. It must be awkward for whoever called you."

Tatsuya stopped walking. "Well, I guess I'll listen."

Mayumi tilted her head cutely. "Hm? Don't you ever feel put-upon when you do that?"

Having hit the nail on the head, Mayumi was promptly ignored. Tatsuya turned the other direction.

The person who called him was probably the the Kendo Club member, Mibu Sayaka.

"Hm? Do you need something?"

Came the bland reply.

"Well, I should probably start with, 'pleased to meet you', right?"

"No, normally, people start with their names, not with 'pleased to meet you.'"

"Oh! I supposed that's true. My name is Mibu Sayaka."

She walked forward with some hesitation, but not what was expected.

"Well, in that case, nice to meet you." Tatsuya said with a blank face. "So what was it that you wanted?"

The kendo girl raised an eyebrow. "That's quite blunt, you know. Do you not want to speak with me?"

_twitch_

Well, they say that honesty is a virtue.

So he gave his best crowd-pleasing grin and replied, "I don't have any particular desire to, no. But ask away."

Mayumi giggled slightly, even though she had backed away from the conversation.

Quickly throwing away pleasantries, Sayaka condensed everything into two sentences.

"I'd like to consult Shiba-senpai about something. So, could you accompany me for a short while?"

"No, I think I might be busy with Student Council duties..." Tatsuya grimaced at the terrible refusal, but after bluntly telling the person to hurry up, it was at least common courtesy to refuse properly.

His escape plan was shot down quickly, though.

"I checked earlier. You don't have anything to do."

_twitch_

"Mayumi-chan, could you stop going through all of my work? Thanks." Tatsuya said under his breath. Then, he turned back to Sayaka. "Well, Mibu-san. It looks like my schedule is cleared up, so I guess I'll hear what you have to say." He shrugged in a rather carefree manner for someone who was roped into listening to someone's problems.

"Well, Shiba-senpai, could you meet me at the cafeteria in a few minutes? I'll be waiting." Cheerfully, she waved a farewell.

Mayumi laughed. "Shiba Tatsuya, guidance counselor extraordinaire, I can see it now."

Sighing heavily, Tatsuya resigned himself to fate. "Well, I guess I'll see you later."

"You shouldn't sigh so much." Mayumi smiled. "Well, I still have work to do, so..."

"Yeah."

The girl tiptoed and kissed the boy on the cheek.

Smiling, she moved towards the council room.

* * *

He managed the catch up to the girl before she even reached the cafeteria.

Managing to blend into the crowd, somehow, they inconspicuously reached a table.

Tatsuya obtained coffee, Sayaka got juice.

Silently, Tatsuya sipped his coffee, ignoring his surroundings entirely.

Combined with his tired expression yet sharp eyes, he probably gave the impression of a business man stuck on the morning train.

"Well?" He asked, suddenly.

"...what? The juice? W-what's wrong with juice?"

Perhaps it was his natural pressure, but Sayaka was hard-pressed to respond to anything the Vice-President said.

"No, what you wanted to talk to me about."

_Honestly, I need to stop shortening my phrases..._ Being so used to working with the same people, he was somehow expecting them to understand him.

Rather humbled, the kendo girl stared downwards.

"I thought I should probably thank you, first. The reason neither side is under much heat is because of your interference."

"Really? I didn't do much, honestly." Tatsuya was taken aback. He had stayed on neither side of the argument, but rather based his decisions on hostility levels. "Neither side was actually injured, and it isn't an incident that's happened before, which is probably why everyone's been let off easily."

"Well, I suppose, but I don't think anyone else there could prevent injury to the bystanders, as well. I could see the appeal in simply dealing with it in overpowering strength, to show off all of your skills, than in the subtle manner you did. Did you understand that?"

"Well, I guess. But personally, I've never thought that. If you had power... Wouldn't you be constantly sought out, unable to deal with both yourself and everyone else?"

Sayaka must not have expected that answer, but...

"In a magic academy, the performance of magic is the most important... I had known that from the start, and I certainly did enroll with that in mind, but for that to be the be all and end all, don't you think that's wrong?"

And so it boiled down to this.

"Objectively speaking, that isn't the end all. In the end, the most important thing is profit."

"Eh? Profit?"

Even though it was going off on a tangent, it was something Tatsuya believed was important.

"Magic Academies gain income based on the number of magicians that are produced from them... it's not important to the students, who only see the skills and powers of the magician, but for anyone to improve, there has to be money.

I hate to say it, but it all ends with money. When more advanced magicians join the army or college, fulfilling the 'status quo', money is given to the academy, which slowly upgrades, until it might be that all students on any level get the same training."

Sayaka had a look of contemplation on her face.

"Though, based on what you were actually asking, the constant truth is that 'all magicians are different.' They say that there's no such thing as a normal person at a magic high-school, so you have to be prepared for fluctuation. The idea of 'Weeds' and 'Blooms' never considers actual encounters, and it's impossible to tell who has 'talent' until they reach that point. Well, go on to the next part." Tatsuya gestured towards her.

"It's a certain fact that we're discriminated against in class. Simply because we have no ability. But, a high school life shouldn't involve just that. For magic to be prioritized so much over clubs is totally wrong."

"Hm?"

"It's true that some of us are bad at magic, so we joined clubs that didn't require it. However, still, the clubs that included magic got backing from the school."

Her conviction seemed to border on obsession. It seemed she wasn't seeing the border between preferential treatment and being spoiled.

"Just because I can't use magic well, they go as far as to mock my swordsmanship. I can't stand being disregarded any longer. Everything about me shouldn't be denied just because of magic."

"Eh? That's not true. People who go to a Magic High school... If they don't drop out, their future could be locked."

"What do you mean?"

"If you were given a list and told, "these are your rights from now on, what would you do?"

"Well, of course I wouldn't accept that. Being restricted by just a list is ridiculous." Sayaka looked offended.

"Well, that's what it boils down to when it comes to a Magic Highschool. By graduating, you limit yourself to the International Magic Law, simply because you 'know' magic. Even if you are a 'spare', in the end, if you really wish to be a magician, that's the end result. That's why people who really don't have the potential to be magicians go to regular high-schools."

Tatsuya stood up. "It doesn't look like you want to ask anything else, but, I'll just say..."

"Regardless of your capacity, whatever you really want to do, you should follow that."

"Why? People always talk about Magic High school like it's the greatest place in the world." Sayaka asked.

"Because, regardless of who you become, we, as humans, have free will."

* * *

**Wow. Okay. This was pretty short.**

***Antinite- Tatsuya has yet to invent Cast Jamming.**

**File 01- This is the first of a series of flashbacks that show how Tatsuya became how he is. They won't all even feature him, but they're split in half.**

**Lessons and Inquisitions.**

**When I reach the first inquisition, I'll explain.**

**Even though I hate reading flashback sequences, I love writing them.**

**Finally got to use the story title in a sentence. Yay me.**

**Can someone offer to beta for me? I hate having to correct my own mistakes.**

**Leave a review, favorite this until it becomes the top story, thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

**-13 favs away from top story.**

**I don't own MKnR**

**I don't really need a beta.**

**I super-sped through the rest of the volume because I didn't really want much to do with it. Next is probably an original arc, then Nine Schools. I don't know though.**

**Au... I want someone to draw cover art for me...**

* * *

He knew it was going to be a bad day since the moment he heard those words.

"So, I heard you were hustling Mibu from 2nd year."

Tatsuya promptly choked on his rice as to avoid making a mess.

"You know, you shouldn't ask those questions in the middle of lunch. And I was just 'guidance counseling'."

Saying those words with a sigh, he took a drink of water. "Also, isn't 'hustling' a classless word? Well, I'd rather not say that 'I expected that' or anything rude." He shrugged.

"Ah~ No one sees me as a lady..."

With that kind of dramatic acting, Mari wiped an imaginary tear from her cheek.

She didn't get the response she wanted, or even an expected response.

"If your boyfriend doesn't see you as a lady, you should probably dump him."

It was Mari's turn to double take. Tatsuya somehow managed to keep a straight face.

"Th-that's not true! Nao is-"

"..."

"..."

"That's a remarkably angry expression."

"..."

"..."

"...Why aren't you saying anything?"

"It's bad manners to drag someone else into an argument, Public Morals Chairman. You shouldn't force Mayumi to say anything."

When thought about, it would be noted that even without seeing her face, the Student Council President was most definitely laughing silently.

"Also, it's incredibly rude to try to speak over someone's head, you know?"

After all, the seating was like this.

Tatsuya sat on Mayumi's right, Mari on her left, Miyuki facing Tatsuya and Hanzou across from Mari.

Actually, he had no clue why Hanzou was there except for possible comic relief. It was possible that Mari wished to subtly balance out the gender ratios.

"...So were you hustling Mibu?"

Tatsuya was reluctant to let the current issue go, but he relented. Mayumi changed the table format to a round discussion table.

"No, I was shanghaied into explaining why International Magic Law is restrictive and that if she really wanted to practice kendo, she really could have just gone to a regular school."

"...Wow, you really don't hold back, do you?"

He packed up his bento (that he now shared with Mayumi for the sake of her not being that one person out of five who got meals from the Dinner Server) and replied, all too casually. "You lost the moment you started."

"I see- Hey!"

In order to drag the discussion back to the original topic, he relayed the entire conversation to them.

"In any case, since I at least went along with that, I'll move on completely guilt free." He said breezily.

Mari had a skeptical look. "How did you turn out with such a bad personality? Were you influenced by some terrible people in your childhood?"

Tatsuya shot a look at Mayumi, who returned it, as everyone watched.

"Nothing like that. Besides, I know that there are people who want to fix this mess more than I do."

"Honestly, you two creep me out. How do you hold a wordless conversation in two seconds?"

"Well, either way, we don't even know how the rumors started."

Mayumi tilted her head. "Well, the Public Morals Committee does hold a considerable amount of power on school grounds. So for students that are dissatisfied with the current system, the Committee is nothing more than the enforcers of those in power. So, it's possible that there's a manipulator from the shadows."

"Do we know their identity?" Miyuki added into the conversation.

"No, because of the source of the rumors, it'd be hard to find the source..."

Miyuki had asked because she thought it would be easiest to strike the source and take out the problem.

She'd been impulsive in that sense for the longest time. He wasn't going to stop her, though.

* * *

"Miyuki."

"Onii-san."

"So you intend on fighting 'Blanche'?"

"I do."

They spoke professionally, as they stood around the entrance to their house.

Tatsuya sighed and interlaced his hands, supporting his head with them.

"Honestly, this whole thing has caused way too much trouble already... It's only been a few days and fights are breaking out everywhere."

He was referring to the fights occurring after the incident between Kirihara and Mibu, as well as the school-wide attack from the student branch of Blanche, Egalite.

He was currently looking at his data terminal. Finding information was an important part of attacks. Using the data privilege of the Yotsuba made it very easy to find anything within Japan._  
_

"I've found the location of the branch. We can leave whenever you want. I already e-mailed Ono-sensei the location."

"O-onii-san, I was..." She protested.

"Planning to go alone? Even so, I'm your official Guardian as a member of the Yotsuba house. If anything happens to you, I'll bear the responsibility anyways, as your family."

She swallowed a gulp of air. "Of course." Tatsuya saw that she was reluctant to accept his help.

"Hey, you know, a long time ago..."

* * *

**File 02 Inquisition 1- Who Killed The Scion's Heart?**

**2085**

"You want me to _what?_" The anger in her voice was palpable, as she listened to her older sister's demands.

"You need to lock up your child's emotions," She declared detachedly. "In order to simulate perfect mental growth, his weaknesses must be covered."

"_Maya._ I don't care what you think about his mental growth but I will not do that to my own child."

A cold, piercing stare. The sheer hollowness of it reminded her of her failures. "Your son is a walking bomb, Miya. When you weren't looking, he killed someone. His condition is volatile and he isn't completely in control of himself. If you let this continue, he _will_ snap."

Miya stared forward, not acknowledging her sister.

"_You did the same to me, didn't you?_"

Miya growled out. "Is this an order as the head of the Yotsuba Clan or as my sister?"

Maya smiled one of her fake, fake smiles. "Both."

...

When Tatsuya came to, he saw his mother with an apologetic face.

For some reason, he simply couldn't feel concern. He could tell it was there, but it was... distant? As if he was listening to someone shouting from underground.

"...Okaa-sama?"

"Tatsuya." He could hear a kind of regret in his mother's voice. Even so, he felt no desire to act on it. Something like tears glistened on his mother's face. "There's... been a accident."

Despite herself, she couldn't muster the willpower to say that she was told to seal his emotions under a heavy lock.

"What happened?"

"During your training, your emotions were twisted... They aren't working properly right now." She openly allowed tears to flow.

When had she become so weak?

Taking care of a child, _her child_, not even a product of love, when did it become so important?

"I... see." That was it. So he couldn't feel anger or fear because it was twisted. That was alright. "Then what should I do?"

Miya sighed. She said what her sister wanted her to say. None of her feelings mattered at this point in time.

"Work your hardest to get better as the Scion of the Yotsuba Clan."

Acting cold and harsh, she stood up and tried to walk as she always did instead of stumbling.

Yes... Tatsuya would get better, and one day she would return him to normal, Yotsuba clan be damned.

Even so, the information was recorded and sent elsewhere.

**FILE 02 END**

* * *

"Something like that happened." He shrugged. However, an undercurrent of... _something_ was obvious. "You know, I don't want to lose anyone else because I did something wrong."

Miyuki was silent. She rarely heard of things that had brought Tatsuya to his current position.

That is, the sucessor to the Yotsuba.

He smirked, though.

"By the way, I was surprised, You lectured Mibu-san surprisingly well."

"Onii-san!" She thwacked him on the head. However, he only ignored it.

Right now, he didn't want to be Tatsuya, the Scion of the Yotsuba.

If anyone looked from afar, they would only see an older brother mercilessly teasing his younger sister.

"In any case, now's the time to leave if you want. By tomorrow morning, information regarding the attempted robbery will come out."

This referred to the information in the First High School's database that the 'Egalite' organization attempted to steal.

"Besides, as your _senpai_ I also have obligations to keep you safe."

"You're only eleven months older than me!"

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm a third year." Unflinching, Tatsuya continued.

"...Let's just go."

(Jeez, whoever said that older brothers are born to be exploited of should rethink their values.)

"What was that?"

"Nothing!"

Tatsuya put his hand on her shoulder and teleported off.

* * *

"So this is the Japan branch, hm?" Tatsuya appeared to carelessly lean on the side of the dark factory, but his Elemental Sight kept him covered.

"It seems so. We have to wait for Juumonji-senpai to get here before we enter." She sighed. Tatsuya cast a sideways glance at Miyuki.

"Remember, you agreed to have support from Leo and Erika, so you have to follow through."

Well, it was more like she was pressured into it by the aforementioned pair.

"I don't often take notice, but isn't Miyuki's justice sense is very high?" He muttered. "Trying to ditch the plan so that no one would be in danger... it's like a shounen manga."

"What's that, Onii-san?"

"...Nothing."

There was no way he was telling his sister that she was acting like a shounen manga hero.

He heard the sounds of a vehicle in the distance. He waited for it to come to them and stop.

He watched the group come out.

Katsuto, Leo, Erika, and... Kirihara?

"Yo, Shiba-senpai."

"Kirihara-san?"

"You don't sound very... you don't really care that I'm here, do you?"

Tatsuya gave his best winning smile. "I get that a lot. By the way... You really work fast, don't you?"

He was talking about the flower in Kirihara's hand.

It was unspoken, but Tatsuya had a feeling that he knew where it came from.

"I don't know what you mean."

However, the red dusting his face implied otherwise. "People getting together after getting into a fight... how cliche."

"In any case, Leo should intercept anyone who exits because he looks like death. Erika, support him. Miyuki can explain the rest, since she came up with the plan."

"Right. Kirihara-senpai and Juumonji-senpai will go left and enter from the back. Me and Onii-san will enter through this entrance."

"Understood."

"Alright! Let's do this! I'll take care of every straggler." Erika said, rather happily for taking down a terrorist organization.

"Miyuki, stay safe."

"Of course."

* * *

Miyuki walked straight out into the open, hands held behind her. Tatsuya prepared to intervene if necessary.

This was something she wanted to handle on her own, after all.

"Ah! You must be Shiba Miyuki-kun, right?"

"And you are the branch commander of Blanche." Miyuki spoke coldly and professionally, keeping her own feelings under grips.

"Oh my, oh my, forgive my rudeness! I am indeed the commander of Japan's Blanche, Tsukasa Hajime."

The man, looking around 30, spoke in a very light tone.

"Is that so?" She responded.

"How cold of you. Say, what weapons have you brought? I don't see anything on you."

"I have enough weapons even without considering external objects."

She was a trained Guardian. The anatomy, the most essential organs in a human body...

...The fastest way to kill someone.

Even if she hadn't brought a CAD, it was easy enough to defend herself.

"Is that so? No matter if you're a Magician, any human can be killed by bullets!"

"You talk too much. However, if you intend to incite any reactions from me, please attempt to do so in a different fashion."

"Hm, how stiff. If you think like that, you'll wrinkle too quickly."

Miyuki simply had no intention of responding to the jab, though.

"I'll advise you now to surrender. If you raise your hands in the air and give up your weapons, there will be no consequences."

Hajime spoke again. However, this time was more frenzied.

"Oh, the little lady has a lot of confidence, does she?" He laughed. "Don't think that you're superior simply because you're a magician. You don't even have a CAD to cast magic, so you have no standing to talk down to us like this. Where does your confidence come from? Have you gained mental stability from looking down on other students?"

As he spoke, the men raised their weapons. From pistols to assault rifles, there were a lot of weapons

Miyuki was burning in anger.

"I'll advise you this, too. _Never accuse me of treating others unfairly._"

"Hoh? And why is that, little lady? In any case, despite your transgressions, I'll give you another chance."

"..."

"If you leave now and forget this ever happened, I may be inclined to spare you."

Miyuki's only response was to dash up to the closest person and snap their neck, moving faster than some of the men could even perceive. A cold glare remained on her face even as the men pointed their weapons at her.

Retreating back, she retained her expression. Hajime's eyes glowed strangely.

"In that case, Miyuki Shiba, join our organization an-"

He was interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Ah-ah, I don't think I can let you do that."

"E-ehh? The hell is this?" Hajime shouted. "You are... Shiba Tatsuya!?"

"Indeed. I wasn't expecting you to use the 'Evil Eye' magic, but I suppose it makes sense. It seems you've been... brainwashing students with this? Wow, what a waste of magic."

Miyuki clenched her fists in outrage.

Hajime shouted. "What are you doing? Shoot him!"

Despite this, not a single shot was fired.

Despite the body living on, the consciousness was entirely removed from them.

Outer-Systematic Mental Magic, 'Cocytus' that freezes the spirit.

"Miyuki, please remember that Tsukasa Hajime must be kept alive for legal reasons."

Trembling, Hajime fled, breaking away desperately.

* * *

And a long time ago, a mother once said to her precious daughter.

"I'm sorry, but to keep your normal lives, this is absolutely necessary."

That was how Miyuki had started her Guardian training.

* * *

Tatsuya walked forward casually, no one in sight.

He walked into another room, ten remaining members waiting for him.

For the record, Tatsuya held a Magic Calculation Field capable of two incredibly complex magics that interfered with structural information, as well as doing 'standard magic,' altering of the Eidos.

Because he could alter the Eidos as well as interfere with structural information, he could theoretically interfere with Eidos phenomena, which is intrinsically connected to events.

One of his 'complex magics' was Regrowth, which read information in the past and reset it.

Therefore: By reading an 'event' in the information dimension, he could 'reset' that event multiple times and apply it to multiple locations, by only slightly rewriting the information using standard magic each time.

Also, as information occurs at a single point in time and is not affected by that variable, the effect can be stacked indefinitely and occur at the same time.

The reason that his 'Repetition' magic had been classed at strategic was because by stepping on the ground and multiplying the effect six billion times, one could create craters with even the slightest touch.

However, using this takes almost the entire Magic Calculation Field due to the exceeding complexity of Regrowth combined with phenomena rewriting.

That didn't matter at this point, though.

Tatsuya activated the single-function contact-lens CAD, slamming his hand into the wall next to him. Activating the sequence, a deadly impact slammed into every terrorist at the same time, crushing their organs.

He waved his left hand and they disappeared.

To be honest, he didn't like using Decomposition due to its nature. Everything of that person simply dispersed, not even leaving a trace.

However, as he advanced, a laugh was accompanied by a strange inaudible sound. Ten more men, as well as Tsukasa Hajime, stood there.

"How do you like this, magician? This is Cast Jamming." He referred to the bronze looking bracelet and rings on their hands.

"My, it appears you've brought quite a lot of Antinite with you." Tatsuya could feel his calculation field slipping.

At this point, all other fields except for Regrowth and Decomposition would be disabled as to prevent a cataclysmic disaster, like the complete disappearance of a famous mountain or anything else a haywire Decomposition would cause.

"This comes from a breakaway from the remnants of White Russia." He stated. "This is my last stand, so... Kill him! Without magic, he's nothing!"

Tatsuya only stood there, a thin layer of his Decomposition Magic protecting him from bullets. He decomposed the sound waves, neutralizing the Antinite. He breathed out as he felt his calculation ability being unblocked.

"Y-You freak! You can't even use magic, yet... _What are you?"_

His question would go unanswered. The wall split behind Hajime.

"Nicely done, man!"

Kirihara Takeaki spoke, grinning. "Who's this guy?"

"That's Tsukasa Hajime, the branch commander."

"So it was you..." Takeaki spoke, the rage flowing off of him being double what Miyuki's was earlier.

"You're the reason Mibu is..!"

Tatsuya whistled in appreciation as Kirihara beat the guy to a pulp.

* * *

"Mayumi, you need to stop abusing your power. Honestly, skipping school to celebrate Mibu-san's release..."

"Honestly, Tatsuya, are you telling me you had things to do at school?" Mayumi countered,

He could not refute that statement.

"Besides, Onii-san. It's important to make sure your friends are well."

Idle thoughts of friendship, effort, and victory flashed through his head. He said nothing, though.

"Isn't that Kirihara-senpai?"

Miyuki noted absently.

Standing next to Sayaka, red dusting his face, was Kirihara.

"Ah- It's Miyuki-chan and Shiba-senpai! Oh, and Mayumi-senpai, too? Don't you guys have Student Council work?"

Tatsuya spoke in a 'quoting' sort of voice.

"'We always have extra time for students.'"

Mayumi laughed and held his hand tightly. "No, we actually have everything finished already."

Miyuki passed Sayaka the bouquet.

"Congratulations on your discharge." Miyuki spoke lightly and gracefully.

However, the scene didn't have a _perfect_ feeling, but rather...

It felt very human. He watched as Miyuki lost herself in ordinary chatter.

"Ah, you're Shiba-san, aren't you?"

An older man came walking up to him.

"I'm Mibu Yuuzou, Sayaka's father."

"It's nice to meet you. I am indeed Shiba Tatsuya." He spoke in the tone he was first trained to use. The elegant tones of the Yotsuba that struck irrational fear into anyone that heard them, but he quickly dropped them.

"I'm his fiancee, Saegusa Mayumi."

"Eh, really? Engaged at such a young age?"

"Ah, things happened..." Not going any further, he only shrugged. "At least, it's nothing political."

"In any case, do you know where your sister is? I must thank her for helping my daughter recover."

"Ah, she's over there, talking to Kirihara-san. Well, I'm a little proud that she was able to follow her desires to the end."

"...You're just as Major Kazama says."

"Really? You know Major Kazama?" It was at times like this that he was glad he had diplomatic lessons. To breeze through even the greatest surprise without changing expressions was a valuable skill.

"We were comrades in the army barracks. Even now, we're close friends."

Well, what Tatsuya really wanted to ask was why the man knew about his identity, but he would have to take that for now.

"Since I heard that you had helped out with the incident, I wanted to see for myself what you're like."

"I see. Were you disappointed?" Tatsuya raised an eyebrow.

"No, not at all! I was a little surprised, though."

"Yeah, everyone is." He admitted. "However, Mayumi's steel will is unbreakable."

"Hey, Tatsuya, what's that supposed to mean?" The aforementioned girl pouted. He sighed.

"Nothing, nothing. Hey, by the way..."

"I haven't told anyone of what I heard from Major Kazama, so don't worry."

After this, Yuuzou went back to rejoin his wife.

"Hey, Shiba-senpai. What did you talk to my dad about?"

"We talked about my secret powers and how the man who was in charge of my military division is his close friend."

"..."

"..."

"...If you don't want to tell us, just say so."

This was actually the truth, but when the truth is strange enough, it's okay to believe that it's simply a joke.

"By the way, aren't you and the Student Council president a little... _too close_, even for being the Vice President?"

"Oh, my. What makes you think that we're too close?" Mayumi questioned.

Erika immediately interrupted. "Oh, that. It's really weird, Saya." she stated. It seemed that she had immediately gotten along with Sayaka, if the nickname was any indicator.

"What is?"

"It's because they're engaged."

"Eh!?"

"Eh!?"

There were two synchronized shouts of surprise.

Tatsuya sighed.

"It never fails, does it...?"

* * *

**Man, there's a lot of things I want to do but you have to remember that the name of the source is called the 'Irregular at Magic High School' so there's certain things you just can't do without killing the point of the story. It's kind of like writing a story for Code Geass without Geass or Codes. I mean, I guess you _can_ but it's entirely pointless in my honest opinion.**

**Unless you're writing an AU. But the most common AU is a highschool AU so we're right back to where we started.**

**This chapter was mainly for Miyuki, to show her character and her ability. The first inquisition! It's a response to the 'Lesson' type flashback, which will appear irregularly.**

**By the way, I'm exercising my right to delete guest reviews. Some of you guys ask some, to be honest, really _stupid_ questions and I can't even respond to you. Not that hard to make an account.**

**And I'll respond to reviews on the chapter page when hell falls.**

**If you don't understand the 'friendship, effort, and victory' thing, that refers to the Shounen Manga's main principles.**

**And now, an Omake.**

* * *

**Omake- School Play**

"The world is dark, and my only light is you." Mayumi turned upwards towards a stage balcony, mischief twinkling in her eyes.

Tatsuya attempted not to gag.

Rather over dramatically, Mayumi continued, an arm reaching towards him.

"I am facing the east, and Tatsuya is the sun. Please, rise and shed light upon me again. It is my lord, and yet he will say nothing. What of that? I need not look to the sky, as the brightest star is in front of me right now. Oh, what I would give to hold your hand..."

"Mayumi..." He forced out his first line.

"He is speaking! Speak again, my angel, and allow me the gift of hearing the voice of the heavens."

It was time. He would regret this for the rest of his life. "Oh, Mayumi! Why must you be 'Mayumi'?" He felt like throwing up. He pressed a hand against his heart as a dramatic gesture. "The name Yotsuba has always followed me like a curse. Please, what will allow us to be together?"

"..." Mayumi remained silent as was required.

"It's only your name that keeps us apart. What's Saegusa matter anyways? It isn't your body nor mind, and it doesn't define who you are."

"Yes. Why must we listen to the whims of adults? Let's do what we want, instead."

Tatsuya acted taken aback. "But, my family and yours..."

"Considering that I fell in love with you and not your family, I refuse to take that into account. Please, if you'll love me, I won't be Mayumi anymore."

"Then, who are you that is listening to my thoughts in this darkness?"

"I don't know how to tell you my name. It is your enemy, and I have no need for things harmful to you."

"I haven't heard you say very much, but I will recognize your voice anywhere. Are you not Mayumi? Are you not a Sae-Okay, Cut! CUT!"

Tatsuya suddenly shouted. Miyuki turned off the digital camera. Mayumi began to giggle uncontrollably.

"What's wrong, Onii-san?"

"Look. I understand that you want to direct the school play. I really do. But why did you choose _this play?_"

"What's wrong with Romeo and Juliet?"

"I-no, there's nothing wrong with the play, but isn't it a little tactless to have us as the actors? More like, what's with the edited script? What if Koichi-san or Maya-obaa-sama show up?"

"Koichi-san will just smirk and file it as blackmail and _oba-ue_ would never show up for family bonding time. Anything else?"

"There's way too many parallels! Wh-"

"Tatsuya, calm down." Mayumi wasn't laughing as much, but it was _still there_. "It's just for fun, okay?" He cast a betrayed look at the love of his life, though he realized that she would side with Miyuki as soon as she heard the details.

"Yes, Onii-san. Any other complaints before we continue?"

"Yeah, just one. And this is really important."

"Hm?"

He grabbed a handful of his black, frilly, dress, and tossed it up.

"Why am I Juliet!?"

* * *

**This omake is an extremely bastardized version of the balcony scene of Romeo and Juliet.**


	6. Chapter 6

**The first original part.**

**Well, it's not really a big thing. Just a small happening constituting as one arc that has absolutely nothing to do with the source material. There's probably going to be at least one more part that's a short story.**

**I need to get more chapters with 5k+ words, but... I keep either getting lazy or running out of things to write.**

**I don't own MKnR.**

* * *

**Side Narrative 1: The Daily Lives of Master Clan Heirs**

"Obaa-sama."

"Tatsuya. I apologize for calling so early."

Indeed, it was four AM after midnight.

"I think that in this context, it would be better to call it late." Tatsuya responded.

"Indeed? I suppose if you mean the delay before this call, you would be correct."

Yotsuba Maya was on the other side of the video phone. At an age over 40, it could be said even at an objective standpoint that she was a beautiful woman with feminine charm.

The twin sister of his dear, departed mother.

Two people with entirely different personalities and abilities.

Naturally, he preferred his mother to the source of half of his strife.

However, business was business, and this call was important.

"In any case, how is Miyuki? I've heard some intriguing news and I wanted to make sure she was okay."

Tatsuya understood immediately.

Because Miyuki rashly followed her emotions, Maya was currently judging her.

Despite everything, there might be serious consequences if Miyuki was judged badly by the esteemed leader of their family.

"She's alright. There was simply a _brainwashing incident_, and it would have definitely become problematic if left alone."

Tatsuya's words formed an unshakable wall. However, it was to be remembered that on the other side of the screen was the Queen of the Night herself.

"Oh? However, I heard that Miyuki had lashed out in anger?"

"Miyuki was willing to fight where those around her couldn't. That's all there is to it." Tatsuya upped his pressure to match his aunt's. Rather than an obscure member of nobility, Tatsuya was now the great king himself.

But the person on the other side was still a demon.

"So she'd fought for her 'friends', or 'associates', is it? And what about her duty?"

"Miyuki has continued her duties as a Guardian, as have I."

With short, unexploitable phrases, Tatsuya continued to shield his sister.

"...Miyuki fears associating with people like you and I despite being family because we're 'monsters', is it?" Maya had a smile on her face. "But if she looked in the mirror, I think she'd be surprised by what she found."

"Honestly, I'd be scared myself if one day my sister came out with no emotions and a sick drive to be the greatest leader of the Yotsuba Family. And, the reason I'd became that way..."

Despite his cleverly and carefully built fortress, he couldn't help but make that jab.

She had taken a lot of things from him, and in return, he broke the rules she had established. There was an animosity that had to be ignored to get things done.

But at that moment, the room darkened.

Streams of light burst through the room, piercing through him... and his furniture.

The room brightened once more.

"Wow, right to the head? You really aren't messing around." Tatsuya commented, rising up from behind his dead corpse. "Also, that furniture is expensive, you know?" He waved his right arm, the body simply disappearing into nothing.

Maya sighed. "Sometimes, you really annoy me, _nephew_. You won't be silenced even after dying."

These were surely, on some level, the true feelings of Yotsuba Maya.

"To be fair, Miyuki's 'Cocytus' trumps my own ability which activates when my heart stops, because it only destroys the consciousness and not the subconsciousness, automatic body functions. We could call it a game of rock-paper-scissors, if you will, obaa-sama. I'll be rock, and you can be scissors. When Miyuki wakes up, she can be paper." Tatsuya joked, though he didn't smile.

"Is that so? Well, there's no reason to continue on this subject." Tatsuya sighed. As far as the recent incident went, he was in the clear. "But there's actually a job you need to complete."

"..."

"As you might know, after you turned 4, the Yotsuba Family went entirely off the grid. No one knew the location of the Main House or even the identities of half of its members. And I intend to keep it that way." Maya said with a small smile that Tatsuya saw right through.

"And what does this have to do with my job?"

"Since you continually use your own identity to make purchases, such as for parts of that machine that strings together CADs, or development of the 'Flying-Type Magic', people have started to trace backwards." Maya exaggerated a shrug. "While we can erase tracking, the fact is that one of your 'orders' is at risk of being intercepted, which would be bad for both you and I."

"And where is it right now?"

Maya revealed a predator's grin. "Hokkaido."

"That's Ichijou territory, isn't it?"

He got a stare back.

"...You rerouted the purchase, didn't you? Is this supposed to be a punishment?" Tatsuya narrowed his eyes.

However, Maya tilted her head. "I don't know what you're talking about?" She stated in an exceedingly cruel manner.

"Tch. I suppose there's no way to get away from your ire?"

"You could cancel your engagement with the Sae-"

"Never."

He supposed it was still a highly opposed decision. However, no one could stop how he felt.

He heard an over-dramatic sigh. "In that case, get moving. It's going to be in northern Japan for at least a few more days."

The video phone clicked and his aunt hung up.

* * *

"I'm really sorry, but obaa-sama is sending me on another job. Can you take care of my council work?" At around seven, he called Mayumi.

"Of course, but if this is because your aunt doesn't approve of our-"

"-No, it's alright. I chose this myself, remember?"

"...Alright." She submitted.

"Hey, lighten up. I won't be gone long... _cradle robber._"_  
_

He could almost imagine her puffing out her cheeks and sulking.

"Tatsuya, where did you even come up with that name? I forget if it even had anything to do with our age difference..."

"Well, it was mainly because you lorded the fact that you were older than me for at least the entire first year after we met."

"Jeez! That was so long ago..."

"Well, in any case, I have to go."

He hung up, and prepared to head north, not waiting for a reply.

Time was of the essence, so he would just teleport there, though that would take massive calculations.

To restate, it was to take a movement and copy and edit it so many times inside of the information dimension that it took the single motion straight to the final target destination, regardless of any obstacles.

As such, it took longer to get further away.

He put on a dark blue trench coat that reached to his ankles, and slipped his two specialized 'Silver Horn' CADs into his pockets. His glove-shaped general CAD was slipped on as well. He re-activated the small contact-lens CAD.

Sighing, he opened the door.

He hoped that this one would be simple. Well, all the missions had started simply but there were almost always complications.

For example, what if...

* * *

"...A clue to the status of the Yotsuba Family has been found. If possible, intercept it and bring it to the Ichijou Family."

After all, aside from Yotsuba Maya sometimes making appearances, almost no one knew anything about the Yotsuba's current status. Somehow, they still remained the most feared clan, despite not having any active members in the public.

"I see. In that case, send me the whereabouts of the clue."

Ichijou Masaki had no idea what said 'clue' was. It could be some random note, or even a living human. But he was ready to find out at any time.

That was his mission. He had no clue what a huge wrench he would be throwing into the schedule of another guy, so he might as well volunteer to do this for the Magic Association. The Yotsuba Family was a kind of ticking time bomb, except no one knew where it was or when it would explode.

"I'm sending the data to you right now."

"Alright."

* * *

Tatsuya was rather exhausted.

Maybe it was the cold air or maybe it was the large-scale teleportation he'd just performed.

In any case, the bad news was that package had already been intercepted. That was bad.

However, the data encryption over his credentials and the seal put on his package gave him an estimated two hours to get it back. That was the other bad news.

The good news was that the interceptor was a 3rd party who would probably try to sell it and not one of the families that would simply broadcast the information across the world. He'd gotten Saegusa Koichi to keep his secret but he was willing to bet his luck wouldn't last.

The other _other_ bad news was that the Ichijou Family apparently sent someone to get the information from the 3rd party.

How. _Fun._

For the record, he'd much rather be in school but Taurus Silver had to make another breakthrough _sometime._

He walked to the updated location of his stuff.

He wasn't perfect, after all. He didn't have the massive concentration to teleport in, erase the data, and get his delivery while still avoiding contact with the Ichijou Family.

Something had to give.

* * *

He breezed through the door like he owned he place. Well, they were holding his delivery hostage so he felt a little justified.

He used his 'Elemental Sight' to navigate his way through the passages. While it didn't have some 'x-ray' style ability, its strength came from seeing things regardless of obstacles and distance.

That meant he still needed to walk around walls, though. He wasn't so mean as to just kick a path straight to the location.

His trench coat menacingly swayed behind him, and he found himself walking through various corridors. It was mainly metal, cold and rather hollow. You'd think that a building in the middle of Hokkaido would at least have decent heating, but that simply wasn't the case for these people.

He'd _finally _reached the location of his delivery, with what, a day to spare.

He opened the door...

A man in a suit with a large fur coat was typing away at a computer. His purchase was next to him, a rather small piece of metal that looked a little like a computer processor.

This was one of the more important pieces. It held the ability to relay commands as if they were made by the person directly. For example, if Tatsuya wanted to cast Magic X stored on CAD C but couldn't activate it himself due to certain circumstances, Relay device A would take his command and transfer it to CAD C which would activate Magic X as long as the correct psion input was entered.

"Hello, hello. How are you today?" Tatsuya called cheerily, walking in the room.

The man looked at him blankly. "And who the hell are you?"

Tatsuya kept walking and grabbed the device faster than the man could blink.

"I should be asking you that question. I'm just here to pick up a delivery." As he said that, the man froze.

"No way, you're... Yotsuba!?"

"Indeed I am. And while I understand that this wasn't entirely your fault, your group's been causing _a lot of trouble for me_ and I might not be in the best mood."

The man jumped quickly and backed away.

'That's good. Things will be okay as long as you stay p-"

"STOP!" A gentlemanly voice called out. Looking that way, he could sort of pick out a few features, such as red hair and a height around 180 centimeters.

"Damn. I wasn't quick enough." He whipped a hand around to the back of the suit-guy's neck,knocking him out but leaving him mainly unharmed, before facing the door. A boy, probably 16, was in the doorway, a CAD in the midst of activation. Using Elemental Sight, Tatsuya recognized the sequence from an old demonstration he'd went to along time ago about the unique magics of the Ten Master Clans.

Rupture. A brutal magic that instantly vaporized all fluids in the human body. Well, it wasn't a good enough counter for his 'Vacuum Space' that rebuilt a second version of his body as soon as his heart stopped or he willed it to be. Well, Rupture was the signature magic of...

"Ichijou... Masaki, is it? It's hard to tell from just the pictures when it's so dark." He shrugged, before reaching for his own CAD, the 'Trident' which held his Decomposition Magic.

"What is your name?"

Tatsuya grinned widely. He realized that the other man had probably overheard their conversation and most definitely heard the suit guy's unmanly scream of 'Yotsuba!?'

"Yotsuba Tatsuya, Scion of the Yotsuba Family."

Masaki flinched.

"Y-Yotsuba!?"

Tatsuya sighed and sat at the computer. Quickly assessing what the man had done, he edited the files so that they would become corrupted. "You know, I don't appreciate it when people flinch and back away after hearing my name.

Masaki remained silent.

"C'mon," Tatsuya rose from the chair. "Just because the people sent to kill me don't come back doesn't make _me_ the monster."

Masaki admitted thus. "Well, okay. But the rumors say that the Yotsuba Scion is the most ruthless and cruel person in the Master Clans, aside from Yotsuba Maya."

Tatsuya sighed.

"Don't compare me to that monster."

This entire conversation was held with CADs primed and ready to be used.

"So, are you going to shoot?"

"What?"

"You're definitely looking for information on the Yotsuba Clan. I _am_ information on the Yotsuba Clan. So are you going to detain me for information?"

"Y-you're going to let me kill you?"

"Sure. Why not? I can see that 'Rupture' magic of yours at the ready. Well, I won't just _sit there and wait._"

Tatsuya smirked as he saw the magic activate.

As he had seen the sequence before, he was able to rewrite the phenomena rewriting system. This kind of game breaker was one of his specialties.

He redirected the magic towards the unconscious person.

The person exploded into bloody mist, the flesh and bone becoming an empty shell without blood.

"Oh, look what you've done." He looked at the corpse casually.

A deep-seated fear rooted itself into Masaki.

He knew that he'd aimed at the Yotsuba heir. Yet... The magic had _redirected itself_ to a different target?!

"Y-you... Who are you?"

"We went over this already. I am the Yotsuba Scion, Tatsuya."

A silence formed over the two as Masaki attempted to assess the anomaly.

**"The bomb is going off in 10 seconds. Please evacuate immediately."**

A sound over the lab's PA rang throughout the building.

"Oh, shit!" Tatsuya yelled. He looked at the corpse and back at Masaki.

"What's going on!?" Despite his fear, Masaki had reverted to his business mode. He could deal with the Yotsuba later, right now it was time to get out alive.

"They're going to erase this research facility! They're probably clearing off all of the hardware right now!" As he said that, though...

"**3...2...1...**"

Tatsuya tackled Masaki and teleported them outside.

* * *

"Ah... it's cold..."

Tatsuya shivered as he suddenly exited the building, which was decimated in fire soon after. He slowly built a fire while the other man was unconscious. He couldn't let the Ichijou heir die because of the political backlash it would cause.

Admittedly, he would have felt guity if the guy died because of him.

So it seemed that the research facility was holding anti-Magician warfare because it seemed that he could no longer control his magic. It was slowly returning, but at the moment he might as well be a regular human. Well, either that or he was just feeling jittery from the explosion. Either way, his concentration was shot. If he was a 'regular' magician like Miyuki he would probably have some semblance of control but his calculation field seemed to sacrifice control for everything else.

"Honestly... How troublesome, obaa-sama."

He tightened his grip on his trench coat.

With his Guardian Training, he created a fire, warming himself up.

Checking his cell phone: He had reception, so he sent a message to Miyuki. There would be transportation in the next hour.

"Why are you helping me?"

With the image of a young and prideful warrior, the Crimson Prince questioned him. Tatsuya wasn't sure when the guy woke up.

"I'm only human, you know? If you died due to indirect association with me I'd feel guilty."

Besides, he got what he came for and also completed Maya's mission.

"..."

"...Hey, what's with this aura of mistrust? I'm only being a decent human being."

"The Yotsuba Family has disappeared for over 12 years. Only Yotsuba Maya and strange rumors prove their existence. I was sent to find a clue on the whereabouts of the Yotsuba yet what I found was you."

"And? So you've gotten information. What now?"

"I'll report back to the Ichijou Family."

Tatsuya showed a charming smile. "No, no, I don't think you understand. You won't be revealing my identity under any costs, correct?"

Despite being chilled by a sudden menacing presence, Masaki's fighting spirit only rose.

"My duty is more important than your desires." He said a selfless (or was it selfish?) phrase with fire burning in his eyes.

Tatsuya sighed. "Really...? Is there no changing your mind?"

Only getting a staunch refusal, Tatsuya sighed dramatically.

"In that case, fine. Let's do this again."

"W-what?" Tatsuya had entirely caught the Crimson Prince off guard.

"Shiba Tatsuya. Nice to meet you."

"..." Masaki remained silent for a while, stunned. "...Ichijou Masaki. Nice to meet you too."

* * *

"In any case, this is where we part ways."

Tatsuya looked towards the car.

"Even if you must explain what you found, I'd appreciate it if it didn't become global news by the end of the week." He shrugged, opening the door.

Masaki nodded. "Then I'll see you later... Yotsuba-san."

"Alright, then."

As the car drove away, Masaki realized just how many unanswered questions he had.

"...I never asked him how he redirected my magic! Wait, no... I didn't ask him a lot of things..."

Though, to be fair, Tatsuya had given the man his number, but Masaki felt that if he called and asked about it he would only get a vague _sort-of_ answer.

He wasn't wrong.

* * *

"I'm back."

"Ah, what did you find?" His father asked him. He thought for a minute.

"Well, if you keep this a secret..." He started. He'd felt a sort of kinship with the other magician. Perhaps it was understanding from one heir to the other? Well, he'd realized that it would cause a lot of trouble for everyone if he straight-out told the Magic Association who the Yotsuba heir was.

Not to mention, he was pretty sure that every family in the Ten Master Clans aside from the Kuudou had tried to send assassins after the guy at least _once_.

(Strangely, he was almost right, but unexpectedly, the only other family was the Saegusa, which was strange from a common-sense perspective)

"Yes?"

"'Shiba Tatsuya' is the Yotsuba Scion."

Perhaps they could be friends in time.

* * *

Four Leaves Technology.

A company funded entirely by the Yotsuba Clan behind the scenes, to which the main shareholder was Shiba Tatsurou, the father of Shiba Tatsuya.

The company that the genius of CAD engineering, 'Taurus Silver' worked for.

"Yo, Director." Tatsuya breezed in casually. The device he'd had a lot of trouble over was in his hands.

"Ah, young master!" An older man, tall but not frail, greeted him.

Though he didn't really like the name, because it was said with good intentions and no hidden feelings, he was willing to accept it.

This was the 3rd division, where the surplus employees hired by his father were placed. It was the division he contributed to, and all of the workers worked under him as if he was their boss. It used to be the 'unpopular division' but with the advent of the 'Silver Series' it had become a renowned and well known sect in the entire world of CAD engineering.

"Sorry for interrupting so suddenly, by the way."

"Oh, no need to be so humble, master. We wouldn't have anything to work on anyways if it weren't for you."

"Don't say that. After all, Director, are you not the leader of this group, 'Taurus Silver?'"

Well, it could be said that the entirety of the 3rd division combined made up the person known as 'Taurus Silver', but he and Tatsuya were the main leaders.

"No, the only reason why my name is even on our products is because you're still a student. I'm just an ordinary person doing ordinary work."

When it came to competitions in humbleness, Tatsuya normally found himself winning. However, he didn't want to protest this fact every time.

"Alright, alright. Well, I got the 'relay device.'" Holding it out, it looked a little like a router with many switches attached to it.

"Hmm... I see, but you don't need it right now?"

"Correct. I'm still missing, say, 136 parts. Well, about three-fourths of them can be made here at the lab."

"136 parts, what are you trying to make again?"

"I'm trying to find a way to 'string' CADs together and utilize multiple ones simultaneously. The idea is that since psion waves generally cancel each other out when an activation sequence starts due to their enveloping of the caster's body, if one can split the emitted psion waves so that they never overlap, they can feed psions in to various rituals without it backfiring and temporarily losing magic ability."

Ushiyama whistled. "Simultaneous use of multiple CADs... Though, won't it be a little cumbersome?"

"Well, when the first one is made, people will always try to improve it. Besides, multiple parts of the structure simply make it easier to move or simplify magic to be casted more easily... Well, this is something I'm doing for fun, so if you have more important things to do, then don't worry about this."

"No, master! This is amazing!" Ushiyama said excitedly. "Imagine if one day someone could chain together even 10 different magics? The value of magic would increase drastically!"

"Haha... Well, it's a long work in progress. On the other hand, I think Flying-type magic should be ready to test even before the Nine Schools Competition."

"In that case, I eagerly await your next visit."

* * *

**Let's talk.**

**Romance, how u work? I'm not talking 'meet, etc etc etc let's have sex' like a lot of people like to do. You have to take two personalities and kind of mix them up but keep them separate or something? And if its overly mushy it looks and feels like wish fulfillment.**

**I'm really not into wish fulfillment. It's not actually very satisfying in the end and I personally think it's not that appealing to readers. I'm trying to write the kind of story where I look back and don't think, 'Wow, that was pretty stupid.''**

**Then, we even have to consider the linearity of it. For this, their dynamic and the time from meeting-to-confession is kind of backwards-sideways because I though that was how it would work best but if I write for something else, what then?**

**Also, I simply don't get harems. So many people like to write them (or at least multi-pairings) but how do you manage a harem without either being an omnipresent moon god or having endless libido? Even then, how do you get the members to not kill each other then kill you? Nobody likes to share.**

**Ah, the lamentations of a 14-year old virgin.**

**Okay, I'm kidding. Still, though.**

**Glad to see you all loved the omake. If I ever get dead-set on another one, I'll be sure to publish it too.**

**The 'multiple CAD casting' idea is just there... to be there. It's not all that important, but it's on the side.**

**By the way, I might mess up a little bit of 'magic theory' but since I generally have a good grip on it please bear with me.**


End file.
